Having been treated to greater precipitation and enhanced nutrition, elk herds appear to have come through winter in fine shape throughout most of the West. And the overall prospects are as promising as they've been in years.

Much of the improvement will be seen in the Southwest, where hunter's prayers for rainfall have been answered. In Arizona, conditions are so favorable that 935 more general-season permits, 150 more limited-opportunity permits, 1,346 more archery permits, 35 more limited-opportunity archery permits and 135 more junior tags are being proposed for allotment.

According to the state's Brian Wakeling, elk populations appear to be increasing statewide. "Rainfall was good last year, great this winter, and we expect another good calf crop this year," he says. "We want to keep numbers at this level, but provide more opportunities for hunters."

Along with better numbers, Wakeling notes that rack quality is up, with antler points averaging five per side, up from two points per side in the early 1990s. And, he adds, "We may have a higher population than we need."

The best action should occur in central and east-central areas. A sleeper unit might be 10, which is known to hold one of Arizona's largest elk populations. Extending west from Flagstaff, the unit is governed by the Navajo tribe, which has agreed to open up more land to hunters.

Next door, New Mexico should once again treat its elk hunters well. Winter brought ample snow pack to the high country, and the combination of plentiful runoff and a wet spring should reflect well on nutrition. "We're breaking the drought, which will mean elk will be redistributed away from standing water. Hopefully, they'll all be fat and happy," says New Mexico's Steven Kohlmann.

While the herd is generally in good shape, a few units have been restructured to accommodate population fluctuations. Permits have been reduced significantly in Unit 12 to mitigate a population decline, but other units have seen an increase in permits, particularly for archers and muzzleloader hunters. Additionally, there are new youth-only hunts in units 2, 10, 34, 52 and 55, as well as some late-season bowhunts.

As usual, Colorado holds great promise. Elk populations have exceeded objectives, forcing the state to allocate tags quite liberally in some areas. However, last year's record harvest of 63,000 elk means some restrictions may occur. "We're starting to get numbers where we want them to be," says spokesman Tyler Baskfield.

Already there's talk of tag allocations being reduced by 10 percent, and permits for the fourth season are now allocated entirely by draw and are no longer available over the counter. Nevertheless, plenty of over-the-counter tags for units throughout most of the state remain, and hunters have been achieving success rates as high as 30 percent in some of them. No major die-offs occurred during winter, and a fair amount of precipitation kept herds healthy through spring.

Winter was just as kind to elk in Wyoming, helping to stabilize the population. "We will have a good season," says Game & Fish's Al Langston. "We think it should be as good as last year."