Moose Droppings » elk

Bull Elk #21 Poached Inside Great Smokey Mountain National Park

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:20:56 +0000

#21 Bull Photo Taken in Aug 2009 Poacher Killed this Bull Nov 2009

Park Rangers discovered the body of Bull Elk 21, part of the experimental elk herd that’s been introduced to the Smoky Mountain National Park, in one of the meadows. Investigators have already identified a suspect and an arrest is believed to be eminent.

The suspect in the shooting was found through witnesses’ descriptions of a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche that was seen leaving the area. A National Park Service special agent then located the suspect at his home in Granville County, according to the press release. Park spokesman Bob Miller said it is not policy to release the name of the special agent involved.
Miller said the suspect’s name will be released when charges against him are filed with the U.S. Attorney. Charges should come by the end of the week, he said.
The suspect could be charged with a number of different things including taking of wildlife in a national park or possession of a weapon, said Miller.
He did not know what kind of weapon the suspect used.
Anyone convicted of poaching in national parks can face a $5,000 fine and/or six months in jail.

Knox News

I travel into the valley a few times a year to see the elk and photograph them. This photograph was one I took of the #21 Bull on my last trip in the Cataloochee Valley. The killing of this bull is such a waste and I hope they throw the book at this poacher.

Guest Blog Post From Michael Waddell / Calling Elk Bow-Close

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:02:14 +0000

The following is a guest blog post from fellow hunter and writer Michael Waddell. Michael just this week announced that he will be a regular writer and contributor to Peterson’s Hunting. I’ve had the honor of meeting him a number of years ago here in Raleigh at the Scope Show and it is an honor to have him post on MooseDroppings

Whether hunting public or private land, the fundamentals of calling elk remain the same.
Calling Elk Bow-Close
Michael Waddell

The “Professor”, Waddell’s largest bull came from the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Public land bulls like this can be call shy and may require some double teaming with a separate caller to fool. Master the cow call and you will call in elk bow-close. Use the bugle to locate as well as seal the deal on an aggressive bull.

We heard the bull bugle at first light and snuck into his core area. When I hit a lick on my bugle, the bull simply came unglued and stormed our position like a tank, crashing through brush and small lodgepole pines like they were matchsticks. Before we could react he was in our lap and we were pinned down, me hiding behind a camera, too scared to touch the tripod for fear my shaking hands would ruin the footage. All I could see of my partner wedged against a stunted pine was the tip of his undrawn arrow quivering on the rest. Before a shot presented itself, the bull smelled a rat and disappeared as quickly as he arrived. While this experience didn’t result in a dead elk, it did hopelessly addict me to calling them.

It seems that in all walks of life, be it the animal kingdom or humans, communication is a key ingredient for all social interaction. However, not all living things communicate to the same degree. If you ask my wife, I am sure she will tell you I am lacking in the communication department; in fact, I’m sure she believes I don’t listen to her at all, but when it comes to communicating with animals I can barely shut up. Of all the animals I love to communicate with, elk rate right at the top.

By nature, elk are very vocal. The uninitiated often simply think of bulls bugling, but cows, calves and bulls make all sorts of noises year-round. If you encounter a large herd, while you might not hear anything from a distance, if you get close you will hear lots of subtle vocalization. Most of the time these are sounds of contentment, but depending on what’s happening the vocalization reflects it. Elk can convey contentment, danger, curiosity or a cow in heat. Bulls, for instance, only bugle primarily in the rut, but they also communicate to establish a pecking order. After spending a considerable amount of time chasing the mighty wapiti, I’m convinced every elk in the herd knows each other by sound alone. This happens with the cows as well as the bulls, and based on my evaluation, somewhere in this mix is the deadly secret to calling elk bow-close.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery
It seems that the more vocal a herd, the better the odds are for success at calling them. Some cows call subtly, while others are loud-mouth ladies actively looking for a date. By listening, it gives you a better opportunity to imitate the particular tones and intensity of the herd.

Master the cow call and you will call in elk bow-close. Use the bugle to locate as well as seal the deal on an aggressive bull.

By calling, we are automatically intruding into the social club without an invitation. The closer we can sound to a known elk and match that intensity, the better the odds are of filling a tag. Even though we may sound like an outsider to the herd, luckily for us, love-crazed bulls are not looking to be intimate with just one or two cows; they are looking for all the love of every cow in the world, so taking advantage of their sexual frustrations and promiscuity is our salvation.

It doesn’t take a world champion elk caller to trick bulls within range. By simply paying attention to the herd and understanding simple elk rhythm, tone and, more important, volume when calling, a hunter can depend on an elk call to be a valuable asset to dulling broadheads.

Public Versus Private Land
Since I started hunting elk 16 years ago, on private as well as public ground, I’ve realized comparing these two different types of ground is like comparing night and day, and it is all about the amount of pressure each receives. Generally speaking, private ground bulls are way easier to call than public ground animals, but this is not always the case. Some private land gets a lot of pressure, which can make for some pretty tough calling duels with elk that can serve you up a humble pie every time you bust out a call. Conversely, some public land, either through sheer remoteness or hard-to-get tags, is like calling the best private land in the nation.

Hunting untouched land and cow calling to bulls that have never heard a Hoochie Mama would obviously be nice. It wouldn’t take long working over these uneducated elk to start feeling like an elk-calling pro, only to be deflated the first time we went to the national forest and mixed it up with bulls so well known by local hunters that they have nicknames. However, regardless of where you hunt, the basics of calling remain the same.

Start with mastering the cow call and all its various inflections. Your basic reed-type calls are the easiest to learn as well as get proficient with. You will find two kinds; both are bite-down reed-type calls, one being enclosed and the other having an open reed or reeds. These calls make a very realistic sound and before your wife can run you out of the house you will master the basics.

I rely heavily on the cow call and think most of the time hunters are better off sticking with it over a bugle no matter where they are hunting. However, learning how to make a basic bugle is important, especially for locating bulls at a distance before getting close and working him with your cow call. In addition, sometimes it is the bugle that finally provokes a dominant bull to commit, especially during the early season when bulls are still sorting out their pecking order.

This public land bull didn’t sound like much when he bugled, but he turned out to be a lot better of a bull when he responded to some subtle calling and snuck into 16 yards.

Earning Your Public Ground Ph.D
Let’s face it, unless you have deep pockets much of the private ground in the West is pretty much off limits, so you have to learn to hunt public land. This is not a bad thing, as public ground comprises millions upon millions of acres across the West and happens to have some of the biggest bulls found anywhere. While it can be tougher than private, once you learn how to hunt it you won’t be disappointed. Over the years one of my favorite places to hunt is the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, and even though this is a trophy area, tags are fairly obtainable through application.

In the Gila, the trophy potential is off the chart, sporting some of the biggest bulls in the country, but just because the big ones live there doesn’t mean that you automatically make one call and they come running to get in the back of your truck. These mature jokers have a Ph.D in avoiding hunters.

Over the last six years I have hunted this area religiously and have had the opportunity to shoot some nice bulls, all by using elk calls as an aid to close the coffin.

Notice I said, “as an aid,” meaning the call was just one thing in a bag of tricks to help smoke these monarchs. My biggest bull that came out of the Gila was a 378 P&Y bull that earned the name The Professor because he always seemed to take you to school when you applied too much pressure. However, this bull was vocal and would bugle his butt off. He also seemed to be fairly easy to find, not only by his gnarly, raspy bugle that set him apart, but frequently he could be found early in the morning in a large meadow just south of a particular water hole that always attracted a large herd.

The Professor was not the only bull in the area that had large headgear, but it was the Professor that seemed to call the shots. I had caught this bull in the open several times, but calling seemed to really make him uneasy when you were in close. However, he would bugle hard to distant cow calls and seemed to be whole heartedly interested, but he had a sixth sense when you moved in for the attack.

Finally, we decided to have a caller stay behind as we worked him coming off the meadow at daybreak. By doing this we could keep him interested and bugling as we stalked in closer. The caller always was no closer than 80 yards behind me. While the caller kept him occupied, I slid within 50 yards and gave him a G5 Tekan right behind the shoulder. This hunt was really a stalk, but the call and caller had a big part to do with his demise. Once we started quartering the bull, we found a piece of an old arrow lodged just below the backstraps, so obviously someone had him in close before and gave the teacher an education, which explained why he was so wary.

The Double Team
As this old bull showed, hunting with a partner can work extremely well. It not only puts the hunter out in front of the call, it gives the hunter a chance to move and adjust the angle based on where the bull might be approaching. Likewise, the caller has the flexibility to move and apply a lot of different calling techniques.

The double-team plan worked again on another hunt. It had been hot, and the bulls were only bugling early and late. As soon as the sun would rise the elk woods would turn into a ghost town.

Just after daybreak on the fourth day of our hunt we heard this bull bugle. He hit it only two times, both very weak. He sounded like the littlest rag horn in the land, but with no other game in town we went after him. Getting as close as possible to where we thought the bugle came from, I eased up and sat down by a pine stump while my buddy moved back and to my right about 40 yards.

Neither of us was very optimistic about our chances. My buddy made one or maybe two very soft cow calls on a two-reed diaphragm, then he started raking a tree and rolled a few rocks. We sat there for possibly 10 minutes in silence, then out of nowhere appeared a wide 6×6 coming directly to us.

At 25 yards the bull let out a soft chuckle, looked over his surrounding, and kept walking in the direction of where the last rock had been rolled, which led him 16 steps from my pine stump. By now I was at full draw, waiting for a broadside shot. When the arrow left my bow, I knew we had killed a call-shy monster by keeping it low-key and staying patient. Needless to say, I was never convinced by the two times he had bugled earlier that he was a shooter. This was a lesson in itself. Never judge a bugle until you can see what is making the sound.

The most exciting way to bag a bull elk is to get him in close, and the best way to do that is with a call. Confidence in your call is critical, because if you’re insecure about using your call, there is a good chance you will spook elk. Have confidence in your calling ability and become just another elk in the herd where you are hunting.

Find a call that works for you and not what works for someone else. Think like an elk and do as elk do. Realism, rhythm and volume control can make the difference between bringing them in or running them over the next ridge. Remember, it’s not always about calling. It can be about just patiently listening to the sounds around you and applying minimal calls while practicing good woodsmenship and stalking skills that could help you put that monster on the back of the truck.

Today’s Big Game Committee Meeting

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:32:44 +0000

Photo by Moose

Well I took the morning off to attend the Big Game Committee Meeting where a lot of the hunting regulations we debate get their legs so to speak. Long before they end up in the proposal booklet at the public meetings chances are pretty good some if not all the Commissioners have kicked them around a bit.

I’ll try to give you the readers digest version of the meeting and add a bit more flesh in future posts. If anyone has a specific question post it up and I’ll try my best to review my notes and recall my memory to give you the best answer about what was said.
They started the meeting off with reminding everyone that a number of hunting proposals were delayed from implementation for at least a year. At the meeting they reiterated that the 10 letter rule delayed all the deer rules and that there was no way the NCWRC could of sidestepped this with the use of temporary rules. I also asked about separating the rules so opposition to one or two does not sink the entire slate which they also said was not an option. From where I sit it would appear to me that we better just plan a two year cycle for getting new rules. Getting 10 letters of opposition is such a low threshold I can see some folks having fun with that process.

The first agenda item was a presentation on a proposal to establish a captive cervid herd certification program. (Deer Farming)

This would be for the current farms and will not allow any additional farms. Chronic Wasting Disease is the reason that tight control by state and federal agencies was implemented a few years ago. Presently there is no known cases of CWD in captive or wild deer in North Carolina. The closest cases of CWD is in West Virginia in both captive and wild deer. Under current laws captive deer in North Carolina are highly regulated with each farm receiving two inspections a year to verify compliance.

They are looking at establishing strict guidelines under which deer could be transferred / transported between two licensed farms. Operations would have to be clean record for 5 years before they could reach this status. This is in the early process and will go to public meetings if the NCWRC as a whole decides to go forward with it. Under this plan there is no plan to issue any new licenses this only for existing operations.

Bear

Proposal to look at a harvested bear needing to weigh 100 lbs or more was shot down.

Proposal to alter bear season in the NE part of the state so it didn’t fall the week of Christmas. Shot down

Both of those proposals were asked for by a number of bear hunters at the last meeting

Baiting of bear was again discussed. Under current law still hunters can not bait bear however hound hunters can strike dogs off a bait pile. This has led to some places where hound hunters are baiting and either drawing bears off others lands or limiting hunting opportunities on others land.

Baiting 3 proposals sent out of committee to the Commissioners Meeting.

(side note all of these are a ways off because they’ll require legislative action for any of them. They are being floated to see if the NCWRC wants to hear from folks on any of these potential proposals)

1. Outlaw all bear baiting outright.
2. Keep the law as it currently is and add a 3 day pre dog hunt still hunt over baits. This would be a limited draw hunt and NCWRC would set the number of permits it would issue for this hunt. (Private land only)
3. Establish a 3 day still hunt prior to the opening of dog season but no bait Rest of the current laws would stay in place

1&2 passed with only one vote each in opposition
3 passed unanimously from the committee.

Deer

Talking about QDM and possible inviting Mr. Hamilton to address the committee in the future. Early stages of this idea so it may nor may not happen. Several of the commissioners voiced concerns over internal politics within the QDM movement.

Beginning to look at the possibility that some deer rules maybe by county if the majority of hunters want a particular rule. IE. Some folks are wanting a one buck limit the big game committee is going to explore that topic of special rules for a county.
Well that is a brief overview of the meeting and some of these I’ll elaborate a bit more in future posts.

Back From The Mountains

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:51:25 +0000

A Lot of Bull

With some of the warmest temperatures of the summer hitting the triangle this past weekend it seemed like a great weekend to head for the mountains. While the mercury flirted with the 100’ mark at home the mountains were much cooler. Saturday morning sitting at the edge of a meadow with the sounds of the stream running behind you and watching turkeys, butterflies, and lots of other nature was a great sight. That is a breakfast I’ll not soon forget.
I’ve got a number of stories to tell you as well as an update on the elk herd and lots of great photos. So I hope you check back this week for these great stories.

A couple of Long Beards

Did You Hear This One… An Elk Walks Into A Bar….

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:41:20 +0000

Photo by Bill Johnson

Well not exactly a joke but extremely odd that this elk is running around Eagle County Colorado with a bar stool stuck on her neck.

Wildlife officers are aware of the elk’s problem, but haven’t been able to get close enough to tranquilize the elk and remove the extra headgear.
“It is not usual to have this happen to a cow elk,” DOW officer Randy Hampton said. “With bull elk, we run to that situation commonly where they wiill get stuff tangled up in their antlers.”

While the bar stool does not appear to be hurting the elk in any way it can’t be too comfortable. Hopefully they’ll be able to capture and free her from the stool or she gets free on her own.

Tennessee To Hold First Elk Hunt In 2009

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:29:55 +0000

Tennessee will join the states that have an annual elk hunt next fall. A number of states have been experimenting with the reintroduction of elk including Tennessee and it’s great to see the elk are taking off. While the odds of being drawn will be astronomical with only 4 tags being available it is a step in the right direction. A fifth tag will be auctioned off with the proceeds being used to support elk restoration. Hopefully at some point North Carolina’s herd will reach a huntable level.

TN Elk Program

Post & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Rockey Mountain National Park Looking For “Elite Sportsman” to Cull Elk Herd

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:37:58 +0000

Rockey Mountain National Park has an over abundance of elk and has come up with a plan to cull the herd that does not use hunters. As a matter of fact they have gone out of their way to make it clear that the volunteers they seek to help them with the culling are not hunters.

RMNP spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said officials are looking for elite sportsman who can work as part of a team and understand how to ethically cull an animal.

She said the park doesn’t view the culling act as recreational hunting.

Hunters looking for a chance to pull the trigger for a recreational experience need not apply, she said.

Hunting remains illegal in the park since its inception, though hunting advocates lobbied the National Park Service to open the region to public hunts of some kind when it began considering culling efforts to reduce the herd size.

In fact, last year state wildlife commissioners attempted to change a 1929 federal law outlawing hunters in the park.

Park Superintendent Vaughn Baker said public hunting was not an option for the park, but the decision to allow the volunteers to assist in culling partly was related to requests for public access.

Coloradoan
I don’t know what the difference is between a hunter and an “elite sportsman” is but it seems to me you would want someone that has the knowledge base to humanly and safely kill the animal with a rifle. Additionally that person should have the ability to handle the chore of field dressing and packing the animal out … sounds like a hunter to me.

While I think it is great the National Parks plans to use volunteers to accomplish some of this task the opportunity for hunters to harvest a creature that their monies have gone towards establishing and protecting is lost. The National Park Service could actually raise some much needed monies to help with their operations by offering limited tags.

Post & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Fall In Cataloochee

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:31:50 +0000

For any of my regular readers it shouldn’t be a surprise of my love for the Cataloochee Valley inside Great Smoky Mountain National Park. This weekend my wife and I took off for a weekend get away. Saturday at daybreak we were in the Cataloochee valley, a very foggy cool morning. The valley was alive with the sound of turkeys greeting the daybreak from their roosts and the sound of antlers clicking as the bulls challenged each other. As I often do I let my photos from that morning speak of the beauty of the valley and the nature that was all around us.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Cataloochee Bugle Corp Helping Visitors and Elk Alike

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:19:37 +0000

In my earlier posts I talked about the calving season in Cataloochee as well as the impact of Chronic Wasting Disease on the small herd. This week I want to talk about a group of dedicated volunteers who make a difference.

A small group of volunteers assist Park Rangers in the Cataloochee Valley in managing the visitors to the small valley. The 100 + elk that now reside in this area are certainly a draw pulling in lots of visitors that will brave the mountainous road that leads into the valley.
Like a few other national parks The Great Smokey National Park depends on the volunteers to educate the visitors on elk as well as how to safely observe them, as well as assist with the management of the crowds the elk can tend to draw.

Since 2001, when the Park began an experimental re-introduction program to restore the long-absent elk, visitation to the Cataloochee area of the Park has nearly doubled. This visitation increase was driven entirely by the popularity of seeing elk. With it came a need to manage the high visitation in this remote mountain valley on the eastern edge of the Park, which is surrounded by picturesque natural beauty and holds remnants of an early European settlement.

NPS

The Bugle Corp program was started in 2007 my first encounter with them was this July when I visited. They were set up on the side of the road with their earth friendly electric truck with a mini exhibit about elk. They had a set of antlers from one of the bulls ( elk bulls shed their antlers each winter growing a new set back in the spring and summer) some samples of deer hide and elk hide, some of the collars the biologists put on the elk to study them, as well as a lot of other things. The volunteers did a good job of engaging both young and old in talking about the elk and educating them on the history of the elk as well as the behavior of the elk.

Latter in the evening I was glad to see the volunteers working to keep traffic moving so people could get through as well as reminding people to keep their distance from the elk.

“The Park’s goal is to recruit and train a new cadre of volunteers who can commit to volunteering on a regular, recurring basis,” said Babette Collavo, Volunteer in Parks Coordinator.
Each volunteer is being asked to work at least two evenings per month for approximately 3 hours prior to sunset, during the period May 23-November 2. This target period is during high visitor use from late spring during the calving season through the end of fall color season after the elk mating period.

If I lived a bit closer I’d certainly consider being a volunteer but maybe you would like to help out.

Interested persons should contact the Park’s Volunteer Coordinator Babette Collavo, at 865/436-1265

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Impact Of Chronic Wasting Disease And The Elk Of Cataloochee

Daniel "Moose" McLaughlin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:05:06 +0000

I got side track this week but wanted to get back to the story about the experiment to reintroduce elk to the mountains of North Carolina. As I reported in the earlier story this is the eighth and likely final year in the experimental reintroduction. At the end of this study a decision will be made whether to continue with reintroducing the elk or to abandon the project. My hope is they’ll continue it.

Early on the plan was to bring additional elk in for a number of years to assist the herd in growing in the area however Chronic Wasting Disease brought these plans to a halt.

CWD has been around for a good number of years being discovered in Colorado in mule deer. At first it was thought that it might be limited to that particular specie but it has sense spread to whitetail deer, elk, and moose. There is no evidence that this disease can be transferred to humans. In 2001 when the elk experiment was in its infancy much of the outdoor world was in the frenzy of following the discovery of CWD in parts of Canada and the United States. 2001-2002 was when it was discovered in Wisconsin and a panic was set off with portions of the state under orders to completely eradicate the deer herd to stop CWD. Many dire warnings at that time were being made about CWD and false rumors of its transmission into humans was made. While this is a serious disease and we need to do all we can to prevent its spread the early dire predictions have just not proven to be true.

In response to CWD most states have outright banned the transportation of live deer, elk & moose and have specific regulations on the transporting of dead animals especially from states with outbreaks of CWD. For the most part you can’t transport spine or brain from these animals because of the concentration of CWD in those tissues and fluids. Hunters who wear gloves and debone the meat without cutting into the bones will have safe meat to eat. Additional and more detailed information for hunters is available.

Transportation bans have prevented additional elk being brought in even though there are herds that are disease free. CWD was though to be only west of the Mississippi River until New York discovered a deer with it in 2005. Since then West Virginia has discovered CWD as well.

At this time CWD is not known to be present in North Carolina samples of deer are tested every year. Additionally as part of the Elk Experiment all elk that die are given an autopsy at the University of Tennessee to determine the cause of death as well as the overall health of the animal prior to its death.

Despite the lack of brining in the number of elk they wanted to it would appear the herd is growing slowly and steadily. There was 51 elk stocked in and now the herd is over a hundred even with the deaths of some of the original 51 and some of the elk born in North Carolina. I hope the population continues to grow there is something special about traveling into the valley and seeing these majestic creatures. To improve the experience of the visitors as well as to help educate people there is a special group of volunteers in the valley. Next up I’ll tell you who these folks are and what exactly they do.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Moose Droppings » elk

Bull Elk #21 Poached Inside Great Smokey Mountain National Park

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