IDFG completes elk depredation reduction effort in Big Willow drainage

Idaho Fish and Game recently completed the depredation reduction project in the Big Willow Creek drainage, located northwest of Emmett within Unit 32. The effort was undertaken to reduce a year-round, nonmigratory elk herd that has caused sustained agricultural damage on private land and was carried out in coordination with USDA Wildlife Services and the affected landowners.

The project, first announced in January 2026, was completed in two phases. Fish and Game staff captured and translocated 34 elk to the Panhandle Region in May. USDA Wildlife Services, under contract with Fish and Game, lethally removed 75 elk from the area in July. All meat from the removal has been processed and is being distributed to Idahoans in need.

The decision to reduce the nonmigratory elk herd in the Big Willow drainage through a combination of relocation and culling followed five years of sustained effort by landowners and Fish and Game to reduce damage claims using conventional tools, including several nonlethal hazing approaches and hunter harvest. The project was pursued only after those tools proved unable to keep pace with a resident herd that almost never leaves private property.

Decisions to implement a project like this are difficult and complicated for everyone involved, including Fish and Game, hunters, and the landowners who have suffered damages for years.

"Managing elk on private agricultural land requires balancing our responsibilities to wildlife, to hunters, and to the landowners who live with these animals every day," said Josh Royse, Southwest Regional Supervisor. "When that balance becomes skewed, we're compelled to act. These decisions were incredibly difficult, and our goal throughout was a durable solution that provides relief to landowners while managing the public's elk responsibly."

Meat distributed to Idahoans in need

All elk removed during the operation were promptly field dressed, stored, and transported in refrigerated trailers to meat processors. Approximately 9,500 pounds of meat were donated to Idaho Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a nonprofit that has moved wild-game protein into Idaho food pantries since 2002. Idaho Hunters Feeding the Hungry has already begun distributing the elk meat to local food pantries, which will ultimately span Adams, Washington, Payette, Gem, Canyon, and Boise counties.

"Our part in this is a simple one: making sure none of this goes to waste, and that it helps feed Idahoans who need it," said Jeff Schroeder, Executive Director for Idaho Hunters Feeding the Hungry. "As a hunter, I recognize that this is a difficult situation and understand the passion that surrounds the management of Idaho's wildlife. But I am just as passionate about our mission to transform donations of Idaho's wild game meat into nutritious food for the hungry, and I commend Fish and Game for enabling us to do that with these elk."

Schroeder added that protein from red meat is the most expensive and least-supplied nutrient in food pantries across the state, and this project and partnership with Fish and Game will provide nearly 40,000 servings to food-insecure Idaho families.

Food safety and testing

The source herd is in the Weiser River Elk Zone, where more than 700 deer and elk have been tested for Chronic Wasting Disease over the past two years with zero detections. Elk removed in this operation were tested for CWD, and all samples came back negative. Meat was processed in accordance with standard food-safety practices before distribution, and no meat was distributed until CWD test results were confirmed negative.

Why the project was necessary

Over the past five years, a non-migratory elk herd on private agricultural land in the lower Big Willow Creek drainage grew to roughly 350 animals. In 2025, hunters harvested about 150 elk on these properties, and the herd still caused more than $1 million in crop damage to five landowners whose combined lands total approximately 42,000 acres, including 6,700 acres of irrigated agriculture.

Landowners cooperated extensively with the department before and throughout the project, including providing access to public hunters. Even so, hunting, hazing, and landowner cooperation could not offset the herd's reproduction. Under Idaho law, Fish and Game has an obligation to address wildlife depredation on private property. With damage recurring year after year and conventional tools exhausted, taking no further action was not viable.

What comes next

This project reduces the resident herd to a more manageable size, but it does not end elk management in the area. General-season hunting in the Weiser River Zone continues in fall 2026, and Landowner Permission Hunts remain available on participating private lands. Fish and Game will continue to monitor the herd and work with landowners in the drainage.