Is it just me or does that elk's body look out of proportion with his head and neck?
Sounds like there aren't enough tags to be had in-state to lower the numbers heading west though.
Yeah that pic is jacked!! Look at the fence post to the left,
somebody never seen a busted steel post before.....
I have seen remarkable distinctions in the genetics of one herd vs another in various areas. Those times when you can observe a herd for a good long while you can pick out characteristics that the individuals share.
In SW Kansas - SE Colorado there is a herd that ranges from the Cimmarron Basin west across the Witcher Ranch. The mounts in the lodge at the Witcher ranch have a distinctive look to them.
Another real unique herd lives on the east central Sangre de Cristos. Bulls there grow long beams before they get much of any points on them.
Was looking at genetic pics earlier and nearly all of them had straight daggers on their fronts.
I saw an elk in OK about 17 years ago, that surprised me too.
We have several different elk units/zones here in OK now. The population has been growing.
I don't think a few more elk in KS or OK will make a significant difference in the number of people hunting elk in Colorado. There are about 800 elk residing in Colorado east of I-25. I've seen a few elk in the Bijou Basin on private land, and some on BLM land around Picketwire Canyon, and some on the Comanche National Grassland near Carillo Creek. But I've never decided to hunt 800 elk spread out over half the state when I can hunt 250,000 elk spread out over the other half of the state. I suspect that most KS and OK elk hunters make the same decision.
KC