Arkansas Elk Pics

[Bar]

They've always looked happy when I've seen them.

I'm guessing people ran them out of their historic range that covered pretty much the entire lower 48, not the heat.

Talk to a biologist. Elk are uncomfortable at anything over 70 degrees. So am I, but it doesn't mean I can't survive in hotter weather.

What does a happy elk look like?

 

[Warren1726]

Talk to a biologist. Elk are uncomfortable at anything over 70 degrees. So am I, but it doesn't mean I can't survive in hotter weather.

What does a happy elk look like?

So are deer, but they seem to do ok all over the country. Don't forget elk used to populate about 90% of this country. They adapt to the environment well. See my post about the KY herd.

 

[Poser]

Talk to a biologist. Elk are uncomfortable at anything over 70 degrees. So am I, but it doesn't mean I can't survive in hotter weather.

What does a happy elk look like?

One thing that Elk get in the East is mast and plenty of it. I'd imagine that they are happy about having a source of fat that last all winter. White acorns in the early winter and red acorns that have set on the ground and had their tannins flushed by the late winter.

 

[Bar]

Don't mean to argue, but deer come off the mountain at the first sign of snow. They don't tolerate cold like elk do. They also seem to enjoy the heat.

Yes, of course elk will adapt to any environment. I never said they wouldn't survive. I was talking about them being the happiest. It's obvious they survive in Arkansas, but they have to be moved there. Why weren't they there on their own? Why did the herd planted there in 1933 disappear? Where are the biggest herds, and why are they there?

 

[Bar]

One thing that Elk get in the East is mast and plenty of it. I'd imagine that they are happy about having a source of fat that last all winter. White acorns in the early winter and red acorns that have set on the ground and had their tannins flushed by the late winter.

Do elk really need to prepare for your winters? Also, keep in mind elk are grazers. They'd much prefer green grass over acorns. Although they'll eat them. They'll also feed on the oak leaves as much as the acorns.

 

[quackaddict]

Why weren't they there on their own? Why did the herd planted there in 1933 disappear? Where are the biggest herds, and why are they there?

1) They were there on their own, just like they were in the Carolinas and 90% of the rest of the country at one time, like has been said repeatedly in this thread.

2) If I had to guess, mismanagement or LO's that didn't like the idea of elk on their property. Maybe a disease struck the small herd and wiped it out.

3)You ever looked at a sattelite image of the US at night? The places with few to no people are where the biggest herds are. People killed them out, and the places with the biggest spaces kept elk. Even some of those had to be restocked(the Gila is the first area like that that comes to mind)

 

[Poser]

Don't mean to argue, but deer come off the mountain at the first sign of snow. They don't tolerate cold like elk do. They also seem to enjoy the heat.

Yes, of course elk will adapt to any environment. I never said they wouldn't survive. I was talking about them being the happiest. It's obvious they survive in Arkansas, but they have to be moved there. Why weren't they there on their own? Why did the herd planted there in 1933 disappear? Where are the biggest herds, and why are they there?

All of the Elk in the East were hunted out by the turn of the 19th century. I'm not sure about the 1933 herd. There were some weird experiments with wildlife during that timeframe and I'm not sure the agencies understood reintroduction back then. For example, in TN, there was an experiment around that same time with introducing Blacktails for some odd reason. The blacktails, of course, died out in just a few short years. There were virtually no whitetails in TN or in most states across the South back then either. Now many of these states boasts whitetail populations of 1 million+, 2 million+ in some cases (Mississippi). You wouldn't expect that bears like hot weather either, but there are native bear populations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

 

[quackaddict]

And I think they were talking about Whitetails, not mulies, in terms of deer.

 

[quackaddict]

You wouldn't expect that bears like hot weather either, but there are native bear populations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

And South Carolina, from the mountains down to the coast.

 

[Bar]

Well, I hope they make it this time. Everybody needs elk in their life. Even if it's nothing more than to look at them.

 

[bigeasygator]

In the places that elk have been reintroduced back east, they have done remarkably well. In Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and even NC and VA to some extent, the populations have not only been stable but have been increasing. As discussed, elk once covered a huge area of this country. Natural populations were wiped out as human populations expanded. Here's a map showing the current range vs. the original range. Elk can not only tolerate a huge range of conditions, but where conditions are milder they seem to thrive.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Wapiti.png

 

[Bar]

Interesting map. Is the dark green the heavier populations? If so, it shows where they like to be the best. Providing the map is showing before man changed it.

 

[quackaddict]

Dark green is current(kind of), light green is original.

 

[Browtine]

Interesting map. Is the dark green the heavier populations? If so, it shows where they like to be the best. Providing the map is showing before man changed it.

No it isn't. The dark green is current range, light green is their historical range. It has everything to do with human population and very little about weather.

It's just like any other species that inhabits a wide range of habitat. Saskatchewan whitetails don't like cold any better than Florida whitetails like heat, they adapt to their respective environments and become happy.

 

[jmez]

I believe that the historical elk range was the plains and the mountains actually had pretty low populations. Human encroachment has pushed them to their current range.

 

[quackaddict]

You dont comprehend too well, do you?

 

[alexanderg23]

Can we go back to talking about how cool my pics are and how it's neat to have elk on my private property in AR. Enough of the arguing.

 

[Bar]

This thread would have been off the first page by now without the discussion. I saw no arguing. This is an elk forum. Elk conversations are never off topic.

 

[danarnold]

Can we go back to talking about how cool my pics are and how it's neat to have elk on my private property in AR. Enough of the arguing.

I dig the pic's!
some Dbags have nothing better to do than argue

 

[Jager]

Yes mate, your pics are great and thankyou for taking the time to put them up, would like to see a few more if you get the chance.