Overrun by elk

Rocky Mountain News ^ | October 3, 2005 | Gary Gerhardt

[loreldan]

Colorado is struggling with too much of a good thing - elk.

The state's most majestic animals are denuding vegetation in national parks, gobbling shrubbery in Estes Park, threatening to contaminate valuable potato crops in the San Luis Valley, and destroying livestock feed on Western Slope ranchlands.

Some of the conflict lies in sheer numbers.

About 338,000 elk were in Colorado before last year's hunting season, in which 63,336 were killed. That still left Colorado with 275,000 - more elk than any other state or Canadian province.

[ConservativeTeaDrinker]

There'll be good eatin' in Colorado this winter! Get your elkburgers (pantent pending).

I actually like elks better than those sappy, "doe"-eyed deers. Elks are majestic. :-)

[loreldan]

Yep! I got hungry just reading the article.

[Dust in the Wind]

I know you're right.

[elkfersupper]

Thanks for the ping. I've never met a stranger.

Back in my (largely) misspent youth, when Colorado and other Western States used to manage their forests and their game animals, they did two things to manage a population surge:

1) They allowed domestic animals in to graze (heaven forbid now) and;

2) They allowed "depredation" hunts, where you just showed up with your rifle, harvested any elk (bull, cow, yearling) and paid a small fee for the privilege on the way out.

Now, it's all either off-limits or about revenue.

I'm not going to pay (in advance) $2.00 per pound on the hoof for some bovine I have to find, stalk, kill, field dress, pack out, and butcher.

At that price, I can have a sure thing, branded Hereford, Angus, Charolais, etc.

An overpopulation of herbivores means one thing----more predators.

I'm sure that when the Cougar, Wolf, or even Grizzly take a few soccer moms or kids, Colorado may get back into the game management business; but I wouldn't guarantee it.

[muir_redwoods]

We have the same problem here in New England with White tail deer. They are everywhere, like to play in traffic and we don't have enough hunters to take enough of them to make much difference. There is also the Bambi factor with more than a few loose screws thinking that the deer are just too cute to shoot.