Bull Elk Charges Group Of Tourists & Railroads An Old Man At Yellowstone National Park

Bull Elk
KTVQ

Elk are large animals, with bulls typically weighing between 500 and 1000 pounds, and cows weighing between 300 and 500 pounds. They can grow up to 5 feet tall at the shoulder and can be up to 9 feet long. This makes them the second largest species of deer and one of the largest land mammals in North America.

Elk antlers are a spectacle of their own. The antlers are used primarily for display and combat during the mating season. They can grow up to 6 feet long and weigh up to 40 pounds. The antlers are shed and regrown each year, with the size and shape of the antlers depending on the age and health of the bull.

Elk are a popular attraction for tourists, particularly in areas where they are accustomed to human presence. Yellowstone National Park is home to a very healthy elk population that draws in tourists for miles to see these beautiful creatures.

The excessive close encounters with these wild animals is bound to lead to some bad interactions.

This one from a few years back certainly isn’t a great encounter.

A group of tourists is seen watching two bull elk from a very reasonable distance. The larger bull elk must have just been tired of being watched and decided he had enough. He turns on a dime and comes running straight for the group of people on the other side of the road. The people scatter quickly, but one old man is just too slow. The bull elk pushes his massive antlers right into his back causing him to crash down hard.

Luckily it appears that he wasn’t seriously injured, but remember people, these are wild animals… they can and will run you right over. This just goes to show that we really need to be careful around these wild animals, especially in the parks.

Wildlife Experts Stumble Across Massive Elk Graveyard In Idaho

This looks like a scene straight from a sci-fi movie.

We’ve all seen the alien movies where the last few survivors stumble across a massive landfill of human remains, and I feel like that’s simply an unwritten rule to add into these types of movies. Or that scene from the Lion King when Simba learns about the Elephant Graveyard, the one place he’s not supposed to go (and does anyway and winds up getting his dad killed).

However, for a number of officials with Idaho Fish and Game, this fictional movie scene was practically a reality for them here recently.

According to Northwest Sportsman, the officials stumbled upon a massive pile of remains from what they called an “elk boneyard,” near Lewiston at Craig Mountain. They discovered at least 15 elk heads, as well as fur, broken legs, and a ton of other bones. They were led to the location via mortality signal from a radio-collared animal earlier this year, and needless to say, they could’ve never fathomed what they would walk into.

Although they found three more collars, senior wildlife technician Mark Shepard noted that it was incredibly difficult to figure out which limbs belonged to which elk:

“I’m sure some scavenging, but with so many bones, hard to say which ones go to which collar.”

He added that a landslide is most likely the cause of this massive gravesite, as there was a lot of rubble surrounding the elk remains:

“With scree material and boulders up to the size of beach balls, it appeared that at least 15 elk were traversing and side hilling near the top of a ridgeline only to be caught up in a landslide. Bringing them down almost 1,000 feet over just a distance of 300-400 yards, this group of elk was caught up in rubble and snow ultimately resulting in death.

Natural events such as avalanches and rock slides often occur without being observed and it is generally unknown how these events influence wildlife. This event provides evidence that natural events such as this can influence a wildlife population.

Collars placed on multiple species across the state over the span of months and years, allow Idaho Department of Fish and Game to inform management decisions on preserving, protecting, and perpetuating wildlife for continued use and enjoyment of the public.”

Landslide? UFO experiment?

I think I’ll go with the conspiracy theory… It’s a lot more entertaining.

Oregon Man Stumbles Upon The Second Largest Bull Elk In State History

Sheesh, talk about a MONSTER.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, an elk in Union County, Oregon with antlers with a size of 406 6/8 has officially been recorded, giving it the second place record for a Rocky Mountain elk in Oregon.

The elk’s skull and antlers were found by a cone collecting crew on private timberland in the Catherine Creek area this past summer, and was turned into the ODFW. Mark Penninger, a certified scorer for Northwest Big Game Records Inc., scored the massive elk.

Penninger described the elk as “jaw dropping,” and continued:

“Bull elk of this caliber are incredibly rare in Oregon but it’s great to see they are still around. This bull is a testament that age, good genetics, and high-quality habitat can produce truly world class elk.”

The ODFW does not track trophy records, but will submit the score to the Northwest Big Game Records Inc. for official placement.

This is the first elk since 1984 to record a size higher than 400, when one was found or harvested by Randy Ryerse in Crook County, which is now number four all time in Oregon with a score of 400 0/8. The number one recorded Oregon elk was scored at 418 2/8 back in 1942 by Hugh Evans, also in Crook County. The previous second largest elk, discovered by Jim Sproul, was scored at 401 1/8 and was displayed at the John Day Elks Lodge, before it was burned down.

With the recent Catherine Creek discovery, the top four elk antlers will all be in the 400s.

Pretty impressive elk they got growing up there in Oregon, I’d say.

Elk Skull

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