The elk of Eddy (Pic heavy)

About 15 years ago 3 cow elk and 1 bull escaped from a small high fence ranch. The owner tried to catch them but gave up and they ended up about 3 miles from where they escaped. Several ranches agreed to not shoot them and see if they would breed.
The elk have been multiplying over the years and some have been shot when they left the safe zone.
One Elk basket head was very small and looked to us like a whitetail elk cross but was told that was not possible.Every year he looked different. He disappeared in 2015 but showed up this year looking like a full grown elk. Here he is over the years.



This is 2017

Elk in my food plot




This bull was taken this year.

That is too cool.

Have they torn up any fences yet?

That's great being able to watch him as he matures!

why does the picture of the bull that was taken this year look like its from the 80's?

It is the 80s in Eddy, Texas.

That's awesome. How far is their range?

That's a pic of a pic. A buddy shot a ML last week up north and the pic he sent looks like it is from the 70s.

the 1st, 2nd and 3rd pic look like a red deer to me.

Me too! You can especially tell in the 1st photo where there is no white patch on the animals rear end. Elk have white patches.

Great pics!

That is very cool.

Do our blistering summers not bother those big boys? I guess elk are native to Texas (big can of worms) so the answer should be no.

That area is flat to rolling and open. Have you got some dense creek bottoms or the like where they can hang in protection?

From what I've read elk were originally plains animals.

lol I guess it does I will see if the wife can pull a better pic off facebook.


Our guess is it due to inbreeding but all the other elk look like elk


These elk are not bad on fences or feeders. Now the first ones destroyed a few feeders and gamecams

The first few pics look just like a Red Deer to me. Elk and Red Deer can cross breed, but those first pics look more like a Red Deer to me.

No doubt that it's a red deer in some of those pics. He's pure red deer, not a cross. But he will breed with the elk and you'll have all sorts of variation. Shame he wasn't taken out before that happened.

Definitely a mix of red deer and elk. Will be cool to watch what becomes of this herd. Agree that the red deer stag needs to come out of the herd before he messes up the gene pool.