Elk in New York

[Gill-T]

Been seeing hunting shows in Kentucky where early 90's they placed 1,000 Elk to restore a population that has been missing since the late 1800's.  The population is now 10,000 strong with a lottery hunting system in place.  With the Adirondak Park towns looking more like boarded up ghost towns, I thought it would be an ideal place to reintroduce Elk.  Has anyone involved in hunting groups been involved with the discussion to return elk to our great state?  Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc. have herds now....just wondering why we are being left out.

[DJ 17]

I would love to see Elk re-introduced in the Adirondacks, they are truly a majestic animal.

[Adk1]

Not likely to happen in the Adirondacks. Was born, raised and still reside in the Adirondack Park. I could see it happening with greater potential in the Catskill Park than in the Adirondack Park

[Dominic100#]

Would be nice... We are seeing more and more moose every year... Would be interesting getting them out when you 4 or 5 miles from the road.

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[Gill-T]

Would be nice... We are seeing more and more moose every year... Would be interesting getting them out when you 4 or 5 miles from the road.

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Yes, you have to quarter them.  Of the two cow elk I shot while living in Colorado I can attest that one rear elk quarter is all one person can handle at a time.

[Dominic100#]

Yep.. We normally rent horses and go back and pack them out... Would be fun to do that in NY

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[Fish Hunter]

I think that the expanding Moose population is the favored child up there at this point.

[Gill-T]

http://www.scdemocratonline.com/archives/2001/news/03March/16/elk.html

 

Not sure if it is stuck in mud or redtape.  Local RMEF representative is Tim Foster [email protected]

I sent him an email asking for an update on any plans.

 

Found this discussion  http://www.adkforum.com/showthread.php?t=7751

Edited May 16, 2014 by Gill-T

[YodaMage]

Elk have been determined to have a conservative leaning...as a result, Cuomo has told them that there is no place for them in New York.

[Adk1]

They wouldnt survive in numbers that would allow them to be hunted. Not enough browse/food for whitetail and now moose let alone elk. Well that is, unless there could be some timber harvesting on Wild Forest lands that is..

[BSmaster]

I read a history of the stocking in PA and it didn't read as a complete success story.  I do not know if stocking is the right word but they moved animals from the west back to the East.  The Eastern elk subspecies had a different diet and I think that is part of the problem.  The Rocky mountain genome didn't like the different diet.  Too many people living in the woods was another and of course farmer complaints.  I Believe a lot of the forests stocked didn't take and then they had to manage the herd (where they did take) which seems to be doing well now.  Other than that I do not know much one way or another.  If they reintroduce wolves I am going to go ballistic.  Figuratively at least.

[Hookedup]

Elk need grass and lots of it just like a beef cow. Would love to see them but to much timber up north, not like the oak brush grass land they put them in in Kentucky.

[Dominic100#]

And god forbid we log some of the wood which would help all game

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[Adk1]

Yup just what I said earlier. Would help the whitetail out to. I must say that walking in adk woods is beautiful but the lack of game sucks. No browse under the mature canopy at all.

[Gill-T]

Agreed that a sterile mature pine forest would not support huge numbers. However, I used hunt elk above tree-line in Colorado where they could subsist on lichen. Give 'em a chance....either they are going to make it or they won't. Only one way to find out.

[justtracytrolling]

Elk eat to much!  Could the environment be created for them...absolutely!  I love the idea of hunting moose or elk in our home state.

[Fish Hunter]

I remember my Grandfather telling of how good the deer hunting was in/around Blue Mountain Lake in the late 1940's and into the 50's.

Lot's of logging that opened the forest floor to the sun.

Those days of good/great whitetail hunting in the beautiful Adirondacks is long gone, and within the past few years, the flying services(Helms in Long Lake, and Dick Payne on Seventh to name a couple) are very limited at to what lakes they can land on, limiting access greatly.

I was a member of the last deer hunting party to be flown out of the Whitney Lake area in the late fall of 1987 prior to it becoming forever wild land.

Tree huggers fixed that, protecting us from ourselves.

[Adk1]

Fish hunter I hear you loud and clear. It seems as though the state is forcing people out of the Adirondacks hard to live here even harder the further into the park you go. 100 years from now it's gonna be a ghost town with only limited entrances like yellowstone

[salmonboy41]

Fish hunter I hear you loud and clear. It seems as though the state is forcing people out of the Adirondacks hard to live here even harder the further into the park you go. 100 years from now it's gonna be a ghost town with only limited entrances like yellowstone

Agreed access up there is a total pain. There's all kinds of lakes and streams up there but no way to get to them unless you back pack in for miles which in the summer with the bugs and temps isn't easy. Don't get me wrong I love the ADK's and wouldn't want to lose them but allowing some trails and maybe some ATV use would be great for hunting and fishing up there and would help out the struggling towns.

 

I go there all the time in the winter to snowmobile and its amazing the places and things you can get to and see up there using a snowmobile. but like fish hunter said TREE HUGGERS!!! are a big problem. As they now don't even want to let snowmobiles into the ADK park.

[Gill-T]

I know from stories about hunting camps in ADK park that a traditional method to getting back deep into the backwoods involved hiring a local farmer to transport camp supplies in and out via a team of horses.  I would think you would have to wait for sustained temps below 40 degrees to keep meat from spoiling before pick-up day and god forbid you needed to get out due to medical injury.  Sounds like a fun adventure that I might have tried in my youth.  The problem with allowing ATV's are that people abuse the privilege.  Too easy to just drive around the woods and shoot deer off the back of one.  I used to hunt in Colorado, but to do it right you need a team of horses.  Not enough field grass to keep horses happy in camp which means bringing feed with you.  Logistics are tough....too tough for most.  Now if there were elk up there.........you would see a whole industry of guided horse hunts. 

[salmonboy41]

  The problem with allowing ATV's are that people abuse the privilege. 

that's true its just unfortunate that all it takes is a couple of ppl to reunite it for everyone.

[FishingSkrip27]

GO to PA, they have a herd that is over 1,000 animals strong. it's amazing. i drive down to benzett every year and experience GIANT bulls standing 4 ft from your Truck, Plus you can always have a chance at spotting a BigFoot. 

[turks]

Adk park in its current state can barely support the current wildlife population. Introducing any wildlife would be complete failure. Spend a lot of time in five ponds area and there just isn't any browse. Paper companies selling to the state ended a great big woods hunt!

[Fish Hunter]

Huge influx of people coming in and erecting McMansions, driving the taxes up on others properties, to the point that life-long residents, on average incomes are hanging on by a toenail.

Was a time when a working man could have afforded a water-front piece of property to breathe in the smell of the fragrant pines, splash around in the water, and generally bask in the beauty of it all.

That ain't ever gonna' be again either.