Pics of a Kawartha elk

[lew]

I had to go down to Peterboro this morning and on the way home, driving back up hwy 28, I spotted this elk in a farmers field among a bunch of cows and horses just a couple miles from my place and was able to get a few pictures.

 

Elk were released in a few areas around Ontario back about 12 - 15 years ago and one of the places was Bancroft and they've evidently been spreading out since then. This guy is about 50 miles south of Bancroft.

 

I was talking to a local farmer and he said this fella has been hanging around the area all summer.

 

Here he is hanging out with a cow.

 

 

You can just make him out on the crest of the hill above the horses butt.

 

 

 

A close up

 

 

This big guy wanted more attention than the elk

 

 

This was the 1st elk I've ever seen and it's great to have him as a neighbor.

 

Hopefully nobody decides to kill him.

Edited October 8, 2013 by lew

[Roy]

WOW! That's a great find, Lew! Quite the rack on him too. Thanks for sharing that.

[nancur373]

sweet. nice rack on him. hope no one shoots him. is there even a season on them in Ontario? I'd like to see the population grow to a point where they could sustain a controlled hunt. Thanks for the pic

[bare foot wader]

wicked, really nice to see them spreading....there is a controlled hunt already, but I bet that guy will survive for a few years, lack of wolves being key to their success I would imagine, odds for the lottery tag sound similar to 649

 

 

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/OC/2ColumnSubPage/STDU_131067.html

[NAW]

thanks for the pic Lew!

 

I've heard they have causing the farmers quite the head ache.

 

MNR is going to, if they have not already, open a draw for tags to hunt them.

 

 

^^^^ BFW beat be to it!^^^

Edited October 8, 2013 by N.A.W

[4x4bassin]

Great pictures Lew , thanks for sharing

[bare foot wader]

are the ranchers cooperative with hunters or MNR?

 

there is a system that somewhat works in northern BC, a special management zone with reduced point restriction and open cow, to help the ranchers out with a goal to reduce the herd in agricutural areas...the 'somewhat working' is not all ranchers cooperate with granting access to hunters on their land

 

it would be great to see the ON MNR adopt systems that work out west and tweak them to work a bit better, ranchers helping hunters harvest the problem elk...win for hunters and win for the ranchers

 

yet to take one, but elk hunting is incredibly addictive, they are very vocal....calling in a bull and hearing him chuckle and bugle from 30 yds, truly one of my best outdoor experiences

[lew]

 

 

I've heard they have causing the farmers quite the head ache

 

Yeah, it was a great find for sure and I was actually surprised at how big this guy was. His antlers had to be at least 3' long and probably as wide at the top too.

 

Not sure about him causing trouble for the farmer though N.A.W. as this guy was laying back and soaking up the rays as if he owned the joint and didn't have a care in the world.

 

I don't know if there's many wolves around here to cause him any troubles but I did have one on my front lawn a year or so ago. Plenty of coyotes though, but I don't know if they'd go after a critter as big as an elk...or would they ??

[muskymatt]

They had to shut down part of the downtown section of the transit way this morning due to a wandering elk here in Ottawa. Must be elk season lol

[NAW]

 

Not sure about him causing trouble for the farmer though N.A.W. as this guy was laying back and soaking up the rays as if he owned the joint and didn't have a care in the world.

 

 

They are no problem when they're sun bathing!

But they have big appetites! Farmers have been pushing for a hunting season/management plan for a while now. Lots of crop damage.

 

http://www.ofa.on.ca/about/county-federation-sites/stormont/news/ofa-supports-ontarios-action-on-elk-management

[ehg]

What a great experience and pictures!

 

One of the few out there. They estimate there are maybe 600- 950 elk in whole province.

Too bad when people just want to kill them when there are so few.

MNR page,,,http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/FW/2ColumnSubPage/279012.html

 

Amazing sight of a majestic wild animal.

[RangerGuy]

Wow! That is cool, I've only seen them up in Iron Bridge.

[outllaw]

thanks lew. that's pretty darn cool.

[misfish]

Thats so cool Lew.

[Freshtrax]

That's crazy.. I've only ever seen one...in old Ancaster of all places.. Was walking the dog looked up and there he was. Not 30 feet in front of me standing in the middle of the road. We stared each other down for a few seconds and he bolted...the thing was so huge I first thought it was a really lost moose.

[fishindevil]

Awesome Lew !!!! I have seen 2 in the last 5 yrs one was snowmobiling near apsley and one up near limerick lake just south of Bancroft !!! My buddy who lives up there is about 10miles from the original release site when they first brought them here !!!! He sees them all the time and had some great pics of them too !!!!! He has told me stories of when the MNR first starting Comming around to landowners and asking them about release sites he was one of them !!!! And they were worried about poachers back then and wanted landowners to be hush hush about them being there for a few years and wanted the owners to keep logbooks and sighting records !!! Pretty cool now they are established and doing great !!!! What a big majestic animal for sure !!!! And you are right about how big they actually are !!!! A lot bigger than a whitetail deer for sure !!! Both the elk I seen were males too with big racks !!! And the one was about 20feet off the side of the highway I thought it was a moose at first !!!! Awesome!!!! Glad to see they are in our area of the kawarthas !!!! There was one sighted in gooderham in the spring too and that's only 20mins north of me !!!! Cool maybe I will see another one this winter on my sled !!!!

[mattyk]

Great pic Lew, thanks for sharing!

[lookinforwalleye]

Cool pics, thanks for sharing.

[Joeytier]

Very cool!

[TJQ]

Neato!! Thats some great stuff there Lew... thanks!!!

[Ron]

You were very privileged to get a picture of him Lew! Not many of em cruising around yet.

 

Nice pictures to boot too!

 

Cheers, Ron....

[hoosier]

Thanks for sharing your pics. Saw one on 17 a few years ago about half way between 129 and the Soo.

[farsider]

Sure he looks content, he has an entire harem of strange all for himself.

 

Apparently he has been resident for some time as a lot of people have been stopping for pics.

If I remember correctly, there is a farmer alongside 93 on the way to Midland that raises them. It is always cool to see them.

 

A stud bull Elk can easily be three to four times the size of an equally prime Whitetail Buck.

 

On our family trips out to BC and through Yellowstone, we would see them with same frequency as we or you see Whitetails here.

 

Hopefully the herds continue to grow. A number of them have been lost to train collisions.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[manitoubass2]

When i wad in Northern alberta i had an awrsome run is with about 70-100 elk. Working lease safety one night after a huge snowstorm, i could hear rumbling in the distance. I had my high beams on and was siting stationary in a bunch of snow it grew closer of an closer. After a minute or so i realized what was going on. The earth liyerally shook. They vlined for my truck. Antlers actually scraped the side panels ad i sat inside in awe as they passed. It was awesome!

[lew]

Good to hear you fellas enjoyed those pictures and it really was a great experience to see that critter for the 1st time.

 

As for the one Matt talked about in Ottawa yesterday, this mornings news reports that he was killed by police.