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Brad Hovinga has been to at least one season-setting meeting each year in his over three-decade career with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD).
He said last week’s meeting in Jackson was quieter than usual.
“We see our higher turnout in years where we have a proposal that is controversial or a big change,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of change on the agenda for this year.”
Still, five hunters who showed up to the Jackson meeting on March 20 kept game managers busy with questions for two and a half hours. The draft regulations include when hunters can go out and what big game species such as deer, elk, and moose they can harvest with a tag Their main concerns were regarding elk, especially the nearly 10,000 in the Jackson Herd.
Chronic Wasting Disease cases have seen an uptick in elk on feedgrounds throughout northwest Wyoming since the start of 2025, threatening the health of the Jackson Herd.
Although the disease has been confirmed in the Jackson Herd before, prevalence is considered low. The disease has never been detected on the National Elk Refuge and the number of elk in the Jackson Herd is considered healthy despite being over 1,000 shy of the target objective of 11,000.
“There is some concern about what’s going on in the Jackson region and why our elk numbers are lower than they’ve been in the past,” Hovenga said.
Recently confirmed cases of CWD did not change hunting regulations but could in the future, he said.
The public can comment on draft regulations posted online until April 2.
The draft regulations will be presented to the seven-member Wyoming Game and Fish Commission near the end of next month for approval.
