I talked with a long time friend & hunting partner this morning. Each Fall he and his wife go to Newton Co. Ar, the heart of the CWD core area. They go and spend the weekend watching ELK as they feed and interact with with each other.
While there one evening, there were many elk, bulls and cows in the area they were watching. While watching the Elk he saw a Doe W T come thru some tall gras in the field. She walked slowly up to the fence - not hi fence - turned and walked away from them. He took his binos and checked out the doe. He could count every rib and see the backbone very well.
She came reasonably close to people on the road who were also watching Elk. She turned around and came back the same way she had gone. As she approached my friends, he could see drool, saliva, streaming from her mouth as long as he could see her.
She 'never' took one bite of grass or anything else.
Aside and worse than the doe being diseased, she was RIGHT THERE with a good sized herd of Elk.
My friend said there were about 14 bulls of different sizes and about 30 cows and yearlings. He said the BIG bulls really put on a show sparring and fighting. They had a good time except for seeing that sick doe.
-- this was on Private Property and only a limited no. of elk permits are allocated for Private Land. --
Jerry
