Great read on Elk in Texas

Hunting Elk in West Texas is gaining some serious traction as populations and popularity increase.


Thought this was an interesting read


https://pitchstonewaters.com/are-elk-native-to-texas-yes/#:~:text=%C2%A0Elk%20were%20only%20native%20to%20a%20small%20area,from%20the%20elk%20that%20live%20in%20Texas%20today.

I had always wondered how this came to be. If the info in the article is accurate, which it seems they have done more home work on it than TPWD, it definitely raises a lot of questions. Politics at its finest at work within the TPWD? Sure seems to be. Everyone knows when in a position to do so you make policies and unfounded scientific claims to support your intentions, your deep pocket supporters and the views of a select few to get what you want. No reason at all that these animals both can’t co-exist and be recognized and managed by TPWD. I would argue that domestic sheep (disease), Aoudad (competition for habitat, food sources) and predators (predation) have had and will continue to have the greatest impact on bighorn sheep numbers more than elk will ever have, but that’s simply my opinion. Will be interesting to see how this progresses down the road. The caveat to all of this is the lack of state lands. Private land owners play a major role in this.

Just my opinion once again.

Since the de-listed them it seems elk have grown in population by a good amount

I looked at elk in Texas a lot about 10 years ago and even back when the Elk were a "managed" resource of the state o Texas. Why in the world would elk not be a native creature of Texas, years ago they were plains animals and tthere is sure habitat that can support them. There are cave paintings in Texas with elk in them. I do not remember the source but it aid there was an elk listed in earl B&C books that was take in Denton County Texas in the 1800s in a early edition of B&C that got dropped from the book when the minimum score was increased.

In the delisting of elk it was argued that elk were not native to here and if they were these elk that are here now are not descended from those elk. If by that New Mexico does not have their native Merriam's Elk of many years ago but descendants of elk that were brought in form Yellowstone elk herd that were stocked there. The last report of Merriam's elk in New Mexico were not very far from El Paso.

Great read.

Thank you for sharing that.

That it was

Read that 5 or 6 years ago I think. Good study that fell on deaf ears. I agree that they should be managed. There have been a number of elk show up in the panhandle along the Canadian River and in Palo Duro that migrate out of New Mexico. They pretty much get shot on sight. Would be cool to see if they can reestablish themselves in that area!

KS/Okla contributed also. Cimarron National Grasslands Elk in KS hit the river bottoms of Beaver, Cimarron and then the Canadian.

So..... Thought occurred to me. Isn't it time TPWD reexamined this 23 year old policy? My understanding is that the ranchers that host the primary herds of free ranging West Texas elk have done a good job, but to get Elk reestablished in Texas will take TPWD management. We've got enough hunters in this forum to get a petition to get this on the table. Any interest in forcing their hands at an upcoming session?

Why?, I think the current management is perfect. I wish Oklahoma was same plan.

You force a season you force landowners and Farmers to have to deal with severe crop depredation. As it stands now landowners can make the decision to foster them or remove and/or deter them

I'm in. It's ridiculous that they are not treated as a native game animal.

I think TPWD department needs to be involved as little as possible

Why? Because they'll never spread outside the current ranches they inhabit. Like I said, the existing coop of ranchers managing elk have done a good job, and it would be easy enough to set them up under an elk MLD program that gives them latitude to manage as they always have.

As an outfitter that manages a ranch that borders Palo Duro Canyon, I've seen several elk show up in the canyon that very quickly get shot by the hunters that draw exotic tags. I'd just as soon have them left alone to see what happens. And I don't mind them coming up out of the canyon and jumping our fence to graze on the winter wheat. Already have a huge mule deer heard doing that now. Just my .02 cents.

I am going to have some fun with this quote as I know something of the goings-on surrounding it...



Shaffer's 1994 report was not unpublished, but was published in 1994 (hence the date) in an archaeological report through Prewitt & Associates (a contract archaeology firm) for the US Corps of Engineers. These are limited distribution reports usually comprised of just a few hundred copies. However, missed by this article was the fact that Shaffer and his co-authors had a 1995 publication on this specimen as the 2nd claimed physical record of elk in Texas in The Texas Journal of Science, responding to Pfau's 1994 TJS report of the first claimed fossil record in north Texas. Finding the limited print archaeological report but not the actual journal publication struck Shaffer as odd, but he was pleased to have been cited. This was little consolation, however. Back in the early 90s when Shaffer was an upstart graduate student trying to make a name for himself, he was terribly disappointed that he could have beaten Pfau to the claim of the first record, Shaffer having done his analysis and identification of the specimen well BEFORE Pfau's publication, but Shaffer failed to recognize the significance of what he had when he had it. He knew elk specimens were rare from sites in Texas, but did not realize how rare.

I’m glad they aren’t!!!! I love elk hunting, it’s my number one love. Texas Private Land Owner Conservation efforts are second to none when it comes to elk, but they shouldn’t be forced.

Perfect example is last years Idaho Crop Deperdation permits study that the state implemented in July. Public went nuts, now farmers are screwed. Elk migrate to food, there no hunting season in July. By September that farmers entire crop is gone and eaten or laid over. Public can persuade regulations to point the ONLY choice landowner have to protect lively hood is High Fence. Guess what happens when one high fences, it congregates elk heavier some where else then more HF goes up until there is zero winter habitat or migration ability

Idaho isn’t the only example, same thing in Nebraska also.

I’ve sat on the side lines watching elk lay over my corn circle before. You cant do crappp, chasing them on 4wheeler etc is consider harassment. Atleast as a exotic I can use non lethal means if I wish

Populations are expanding in Texas where they should expand. We don’t need counter productive regulations

By most accounts ( Even Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Supports this ) that very little of Texas was suitable elk habitat, so very little of the state supported elk at all, at any period in history. Everyone pretty much agrees that the northern panhandle and far western Trans-Pecos were the only areas that supported elk populations.

Link to Map Ranges:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c249e8b2f6f1402594dd0a096452b8e8



As much as we WANT to believe it, Texas was not teeming with Elk at any time in history. It had an extremely limited range historically, and now probably holds as much or more elk in a more widespread areas than at any point in history. It makes sense that TPWD has delisted them.



And even though i'm a card carrying member of RMEF.....my personal opinion is, that in many scenarios.....Elk are nothing more than a huge PITA

No MLD does not protect summer crops, zero reason to put them into a season. I’ve lost an entire 120 acre corn circle before, in late July.

Elk are expanding and more so expanding to where tolerance allows them. Making them a game animal will just impede on management and build resentment. I watched for 10 years helpless, been down this path already.

What’s great for West Texas isn’t great for the panhandle and vice versa

I agree

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Very informative read, thanks for sharing!

And the fact that there were elk in East Texas two centuries ago does not mean that they should be considered a native animal today. I can take you to Grayson county and find sharks teeth but I don't want sharks swimming around lake texoma.

West Texas and the Panhandle are larger then some western states, land scape has changed a lot in last 300 years.

I don’t see Western Texas and Northern Texas not having elk. We where a prairie savanna back then, were elk just scared of the red river?

You don't ever want the govt involved if you can avoid it. Count me in for 'leave it the way it is'.

I want to catch a bullshark below DD. #stockthesharks

Teal season would be interesting

BOBO, you need to get some of that ELKMO monsanto seed to go with the speedgoatMO seed

Once we finally got a quota system with a high quota, the elk got knocked back a bunch... now speed goats that’s a whole other story

Not sure about this map from one of the above posts. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c249e8b2f6f1402594dd0a096452b8e8

But I can personally attest that in Terrell and Pecos counties along 90 and 285 there are quite a few on the Yturria and Longfellow ranches as attested by the number of vehicle hit elk on those two highways. And even closer to Ft Stockton on some of the smaller ranches. I've seen fresh dead elk on 285 as close as about 13 miles from Ft Stockton.

For a couple years we worked in the Alpine High field for Apache. Stretched from Balmorhea area to Toyah, mostly. A lot of that time was spent on different properties along 2903. I wasn’t so lucky, but some coworkers did see some cows on one property that was on the west side of 2903, and a few miles north of I10. What they ate out there, I don’t know, but these guys could be trusted to know elk from mule deer.

I did run into a surprising number of pigs out there, too. One boar was even pretty big.

Interesting read outside of Tulia. This was back in 2002

https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Farmer-sees-large-elk-in-field-shoots-it-9001394.php

I sold a bunch of protein feeders to a guy who had a ranch out near alpine. Something like 20 1k lb protein feeders.

Called me a year later, said he wanted to get rid of them....said he was tired of feeding elk and aoudad

I’ve got some ideas I’d love to run by him.

Dayum

The other day I was reading an article about bullsharks in Illinois 1800 miles up the Mississippi River from the gulf. Seriously



Significantly more sporty for sure.

All I will say is elk need to be left an exotic and hunted as such in Texas.

I personally like having them around and would like to a season on them to manage/ preserve the numbers but I know the TPWD will likely never do that.

Several years ago I had a group of 12 elk come in and eat 1800lbs of protein over a single weekend, I had to get a timer put on my feeder.
I am no longer able to free choice, it just got too expensive

100% agree.

Yup
No doubt

They are beautiful but can also be pretty damn destructive to fencing

True story. They are regularly found up to 300 miles inland.


Up the Trinity River from Trinity Bay, they have caught redfish, flounder and bull sharks just below lake livingston dam

Really?