UPDATED — 3:40 p.m. Dec. 13, 2011
In an effort to curtail damage from elk at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge golf course, a limited hunt is being permitted on the property. The hunt will occur sometime before March 15 and will be managed through the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The hunting will be done by members of the state’s Master Hunter Permit Program, which promotes responsible hunting.
The elk herd has caused increasingly extensive damage to the club’s facilities for the past two years, said Ryan Whitney, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge’s general manager. “It’s the first thing we check every morning, and the first thing we repair every day.”
The golf course hosts the annual Boeing Classic, an event on the PGA’s Champions Tour.
Working with the state, the club has tried other methods to drive the elk away, but none have been effective and have sometimes simply caused more damage, he said.
Mount Si Golf Course had experienced problems with elk and built a fence in 2008. But TPC Snoqualmie Ridge officials ruled out a fence, Whitney said.
Unlike the Mount Si course, TPC’s course is strung out on Snoqualmie Ridge and has many trails, roads and other access points to it.
In the meantime, the number of elk visiting the sprawling, house-lined golf course has at least doubled, said Brian Kertson, the district wildlife biologist for WDFW.
Finally, officials from the club and the state decided that controlled hunting would be the best way to address the problem.
“It’s one of the tools we have available to address issues like damage to private property,” Kertson said.
To become a Master Hunter, a person must demonstrate shooting proficiency, conduct 20 hours of volunteer work on a project benefiting wildlife resources, pass a written exam and pass a background check, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website.
“It’s a select group of hunters,” Kertson said.
Hunting on the golf course will be allowed on Mondays until two or three female elk are killed or mid-January.
Some of the elk visiting the golf course have been collared with tracking devices, so state officials will be able to track their movement before and after the hunt.
Unlike general elk hunting, master elk hunts in Snoqualmie Valley target females in an effort to control the herd’s population, which has grown substantially during the past eight years, Kertson said.
In the past three years, about 35 elk have been killed in the Valley through the program.
Hunting at TPC will be overseen by Jim Gildersleeve, a Valley resident and the area’s Master Hunter hunt coordinator for fish and wildlife. Gildersleeve helped start the Upper Snoqualmie Valley Elk Management Group in 2008.
He has surveyed the area to determine safe locations from which hunters can shoot. As the hunt coordinator, he can set tight restrictions on where a hunter can be, lanes of fire and methods of fire.
There will never be more than three or four hunters at TPC at one time. All hunters will be shooting from elevated positions, so if a bullet goes through an animal, it will simply go into the ground behind it, Gildersleeve said. “The only shot that a Master Hunter can take is a safe shot.”
Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.
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