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Roger Sabota - Northwoods notebook

For each of the recent past four years, as the temperatures begin to drop overnight, my wife, Judy, and I get the urge to visit the mountains of Colorado. About two weeks ago we put some warm clothing in the Blazer and headed west. On the way we stopped in the community of Osseo to pick up our long-time friends, Tom and Rosemary Twesme. They had heard about our annual trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and decided to accompany us this year.

Rocky Mountain National Park is located in northeastern Colorado and has a huge elk population. In fact, the National Park Service is studying methods to cut the size of the elk herd. With laws the way they are at the present time it would be illegal to allow hunting as a method to reduce the size of the elk herd.

Presently the Forest Service is darting elk cows and yearlings and administering a birth control drug. Those elk that have been treated with the drug are wearing blue collars around their necks. Another group wearing yellow collars is the control group that has not been treated. Hopefully early results of this study will be available next summer.

As a life-long hunter it was difficult for me to admit that an area is over-populated with big game animals. In several areas high fences have been installed to keep elk out of areas about half the size of a football field. Inside these fenced-in enclosures the aspen are growing and healthy, while outside the fence all of the aspen have been eaten. Even the grass has been chewed down shorter than our front lawn.

Tom, Rosemary, Judy and I joined the large throng of visitors to the park and watched the elk in the open meadows. At this time of the year the elk come down from the high country for the mating season. Each time we saw a group of cow elk there would be a large, antlered bull keeping “his girls” in line.

It is always fascinating to watch as a lesser bull tries to steal a few cows from the big bull’s group. There is constant action as the herd bull tries to keep his cows and calves quite close to him. Frequently a smaller bull would venture toward the large group of cows and the herd bull would quickly trot in the direction of the intruder. The lesser bull, known as a satellite bull, would turn and run off a short distance to wait for another opportunity.

Occasionally two bulls are seen shoving each other around with their antlers. Although we did see bulls pushing each other around we did not see any major confrontations. It seems that they know just how far they can go.

Those of us who enjoy hunting would love to see the Forest Service sell cow elk tags and permit a limited hunt. Although a limited hunt would generate money for the management of the park, as previously mentioned, it is presently illegal to allow hunting in a national park. Federal law would have to change before hunting could be permitted, and it appears a legislative change will not happen.

There is some degree of support to hire sharp shooters who would use rifles with silencers and do their shooting at night. The idea wasn’t popular with several of the rangers we spoke with. I will try to keep informed about what is happening with the elk herd in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Frequently as we watched several hundred elk in a large meadow Tom would comment, “There are too many elk in the area.” At times the elk wander out of the park and can be seen walking down the streets of the community of Estes Park. We have seen elk bedded down or grazing in yards and on the golf course, which is in the center of the town. One ranger told us that presently they estimate there are just over 3,000 elk at the lower elevations in the park. As winter sets in, just over half of this herd will migrate out of the park. Some will pass through Estes Park down toward Loveland, Co.

On the route west we traveled through the state of Wyoming. While driving through the flat portions of that state we saw herd after herd of antelope along the highways. The antelope hunting season in Wyoming opened while we were there. We frequently saw pick-ups parked off the highway and saw several animals in the back of trucks when we stopped for the night.

As previously mentioned this was the fourth time that we drove west to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park and watch the elk gather their harems. What is so impressive to me is how different our United States are from area to area. Hopefully the time we spent at the high elevations will help our system as we return West to hunt elk.

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