AG: Appeals court upholds motorized retrieval of elk, bison

PHOENIX – The Arizona Attorney General’s Office says an appeals court has upheld the limited use of motor vehicles to retrieve lawfully taken elk and bison on the Kaibab National Forest.

Several environmental groups sued the Forest Service in January 2016 over its decision to allow hunters to drive cross-country up to one mile off designated roads to retrieve the dead animals.

Arizona Game and Fish officials say mature bull elk can weigh as much as 1,200 pounds and mature bull bison up to 2,500 pounds.

They say lawful hunting is the primary tool the Game and Fish Department uses to properly manage elk and bison populations in Arizona.

And for some hunters, they say a harvested bison or elk can realistically be packed out of the field only by motorized transport.