In the early 1980s, the National Parks Service and several other organizations reintroduced elk into the Buffalo River area. Elk are native to the area, but due to over-hunting had beenn non-existent in the area for decades.
The herds were pulled from a couple of different herds in Nebraska and Colorado -- and have been very successfully reintroduced. Now, approximately 450 Elk call the area around the Buffalo River Home.
Every October comes "the rut", which is mating season. The bull elk have their full set of antlers and the sound of elk bugles can be heard throughout many of the valleys.
On this page are just a few of the hundreds of pictures we have taken of the elk over the past month.
One of the best places to see the elk is in the Boxley Valley. Just take highway 43 between Ponca and Boxley -- usually about an hour before dusk and an hour or two after dawn. The Parks Service has worked out an agreement with area farmers to alternate fields for cattle. The elk generally don't hang out with the cattle, so they'll migrate to fields where the cattle aren't.
The elk are generally pretty easy to spot and watch from the road. Just be sure to pull all the way off the highway -- because they will ticket you if your car is still on the road. Also, please respect the fence lines off the road -- because this is private property on the other side of the fences. You won't need binoculars to see the elk, but a set of 250 or 300x binoculars will make the experience a lot more enjoyable -- and a small zoom lense will help with the photos as well. These shots were all taken with a max 270 mm zoom lense, so it doesn't have to be super-high powered.
The elk come down to this area year-around, although October is my favorite time to see them -- and when the biggest crowds are out along the side of the highway. These are magnificent creatures and one of the first reintrodutions done to areas where they had been killed off. Missouri has also recently reintroduced elk into their Ozark region, and I hope theirs is equally successful.
Hoping to see some this weekend on our way to backpack in the area over Thanksgiving weekend.
Posted by: Arkansasoutside.wordpress.com | 11/21/2011 at 11:37 AM