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Post by billybobteeth on Dec 19, 2011 19:16:47 GMT -5
OK I have been wondering something that has me a bit perplexed !! I have wondered why years ago or even now why IN has not gotten on the ELK herd band wagon like most other states around us ?? IF they were truly interested in furthering hunter recruitment and happiness and giving more opportunity that ELK say in Hoosier national would be the ticket or Brown county state park or both for that matter .It would be a restock of an animal that lived here once . What do you guys think about it . They seem to be a huge success and keeps hunters happy and able to achieve something that may be a once in a life time event the taking of a free range Elk in their home state .
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Post by hunter7x on Dec 19, 2011 19:31:52 GMT -5
Not all hunters are happy about it. Do some Google searching on the recent Elk release in Missouri.
I think it would be awesome to live in a state with free ranging Elk. But think about the new headaches with 800+ pound free ranging critters! Imagine the damage to a corn field or bean field a herd of Elk would do, or the implications of a few Elk/vehicle encounters.
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Post by danf on Dec 19, 2011 19:51:57 GMT -5
I think Russ Koon remembers when the state did release some elk back in the 60's. Maybe he'll chime in.
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Post by HuntMeister on Dec 19, 2011 20:00:17 GMT -5
First off I think it would be awesome to have a resident herd and to hear a hoosier bugle but, You think we have alot of BS going on now with our reduce the deer herds and social issues...can you imagine the social issues Elk would cause.
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Dec 19, 2011 20:05:41 GMT -5
I would be all for it. Call Kentucky and lets get it done.
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Post by dadfsr on Dec 19, 2011 20:25:12 GMT -5
First off I think it would be awesome to have a resident herd and to hear a hoosier bugle but, You think we have alot of BS going on now with our reduce the deer herds and social issues...can you imagine the social issues Elk would cause. THAT'S an issue I wouldn't mind having!!! |
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Post by practicalsportsman on Dec 19, 2011 20:29:52 GMT -5
I think it would be a good idea, and currently deer eat only 5% of any crop and that's a usda est. so i say bring elk back into indiana, but why not add black bear too.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 20:45:12 GMT -5
Won't happen, nor enough non-farm area to support elk. Nor in the numbers that Ky has anyway. Not to mention roads, elk make Doe some nasty vehicle obstruction.
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Post by fullrut on Dec 19, 2011 20:55:45 GMT -5
Too many people in Indiana for this to ever happen. Indiana does not have the WILDERNESS Kentucky has. I have been to KY many times and watched the elk. The area they live in is extremely remote and unpopulated. Eastern Kentucky is down right AWESOME. The elk have a perfect place to live there and thats why they have thrived.
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Post by billybobteeth on Dec 19, 2011 20:55:58 GMT -5
ya it would be great they are some big critters i kind of wonder if placed right in the middle of the largest areas of public how long it would take them to b ounce out into private ground.
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Post by huntingman on Dec 19, 2011 21:03:26 GMT -5
We don't have the resources or the space for elk to prosper like in Kentucky, they could LIVE here, but not prosper..
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Post by HuntMeister on Dec 19, 2011 21:13:02 GMT -5
ya it would be great they are some big critters i kind of wonder if placed right in the middle of the largest areas of public how long it would take them to b ounce out into private ground. Well since Elk are not homebodies like deer I suspect it wouldn't take long. |
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Post by huntingman on Dec 19, 2011 21:20:54 GMT -5
Elk also have ranges the size of half this state, goodluck keeping them in one spot...
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Post by raporter on Dec 19, 2011 21:39:32 GMT -5
Sounds great but didn't work the last time it was tried, don't see another attempt happening. Would love to see it though.
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Post by hoosier on Dec 19, 2011 22:30:08 GMT -5
Elk reintroduction would not work in Indiana. The Mountain Lions would kill them all.
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Post by dbd870 on Dec 20, 2011 5:29:33 GMT -5
Agree, not going to happen.
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Post by featherduster on Dec 20, 2011 5:35:41 GMT -5
A rancher friend of mine in north central Nebraska is very upset that Nebraska decided to reintroduce Elk into that area because Elk do not do well with fences and they love to destroy those big round hay bales.
After having hit a small doe with a jeep and causing approx.$3200.00 in damage I would hate to imagine hitting a huge Elk.
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Post by Boilermaker on Dec 20, 2011 8:48:18 GMT -5
I'd say it's a slim to none chance of the re-introduction of Elk, although it would be great. The overpopulation someone mentioned earlier is the main reason in my opinion. Here's a thought...would you only be able to bow hunt for Elk in Indiana? If not, what firearm would you use? I'm sure the big .500S&W in a rifle would take one down but wouldn't you want to use a high-powered rifle?(I'm not familiar with what it takes to cleanly harvest an animal of that size) And we know that large caliber high-powered rifles are not gonna happen in Indiana.
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Post by trapperdave on Dec 20, 2011 9:05:15 GMT -5
a muzzleloader, a shotgun
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Post by Russ Koon on Dec 20, 2011 12:06:46 GMT -5
Bows do the job pretty well.
Dan, you surprised me by remembering that! Yes, I do recall the time, about 1964, when the state had released some elk. I didn't know it when they released them, because they didn't make a public announcement of it. It was a small band, two bulls and seven or eight cows, IIRC.
I happened to go squirrel hunting one morning next to an alfalfa field, and when I had walked a couple hundred yards from where I parked the Studebaker, I heard an elk bugle!
I'd never been out west to hear one in person, but we rarely missed the opportunity to watch any wildlife shows at the movies or on TV, so I did recognize the distinctive sound. Couldn't imagine why I was hearing a creature that was supposed to be a thousand miles away, but I was hearing it, not just once, but twice!
I started slipping back in the direction it came from, which was near where I'd parked because the farm road got pretty muddy just there and I figured the Studie might get hung up in the next puddle.
Still hadn't seen or heard from the elk again when I approached the car, but there were some GIANT deer tracks very close to the front of it, leading off into the field. I followed them as long as I could find any trace of the critter's movement, but never saw any more sign.
I didn't even mention it to many folks, figuring I would receive about the same treatment as someone reporting seeing a flying saucer.
That winter, as I was typing up a story on the ancient Linotype machine at the local weekly newspaper, (ask your grandparents for details), the filler item I was typing turned out to be a news release about the release of the elk and the abandoning of the effort by the DNR after the second bull was found killed by poachers.
They had made the release in a fairly remote part of Brown County, but elk are pretty good travelers, and at least the one bull had wandered several miles to find himself in the same area as the alfalfa field next to my favorite squirrel woods.
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