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Yep! They look Just like the Elk the west coast Prune pickers brag about at the game stations in Colorado, , every fall. Rio7
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Mudhen, were the Merriam's Elk, smaller than the Rocky mountain Elk ? or Yellowstone Elk? Rio7
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Mudhen, were the Merriam's Elk, smaller than the Rocky mountain Elk ? or Yellowstone Elk? Rio7 It is generally accepted that they were a little smaller, but no real evidence exists at the population level. They were basically extinct before anyone had an opportunity to study them.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Ben, what's your take on Merriams??? Apparently many think they never were a seperate sub species. That they never existed.
Last edited by kaywoodie; 05/27/17.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
WS
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Texas Elk just spotted in West Texas Too funny!!! Considering the old Spanish word (17th-18th century) use for elk was "Buro". One "R".
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
WS
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Ben, what's your take on Merriams??? Apparently many think they never were a seperate sub species. That they never existed. I think that, as likely as not, they were a desert adapted ecotype (the new term for most populations of what have been called subspecies). The few museum specimens that exist do show some variation in size and skull characteristics compared with the Rocky Mountain elk. However, they were described during the time when vertebrate taxonomists made their reputations describing previously unnamed taxa, and many of the "subspecies" have since been found to not be genetically distinct from their sister subspecies. With the advent of DNA analyses, it has finally become possible to mathematically describe just how different or alike any two individual specimens or populations really are. Coincidentally, I spent most of the day at a gathering over in Portal, AZ, on the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains. When I moved down here 25 years ago, I researched the possible occurrence of elk in the Animas and Peloncillo Mountains here in New Mexico and the Chiricahuas over in Arizona. There were no valid records of elk from either mountain range, nor were there records for the Sierra San Luis and Sierra Madre south of us in Mexico. Recently, a prehistoric archeological site just outside of Portal was revisited and the depth and extent of the excavations were extended. I had heard that the dig had turned both elk and bison bones, neither had ever been known to occur in these "sky island" mountain ranges. A friend who works at the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson was there today and I asked her about this. She confirmed the finds and promised to send me a copy of the report. I think that we have a Pollyanna-like notion that the first naturalists to visit many parts of the west and record their observations were describing a pristine and relatively static landscape. In fact, the Apaches and their predecessors had been here for a long time before the first anglos were finally able to spend any amount of time here. They had a tremendous impact on the native biota, both large and small. Small, isolated populations of elk and bison which had been here since the late pleistocene could very well have been extinguished by aboriginal hunters prior to the visits of the first Europeans. They certainly did it with many other pleistocene large mammals.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Thanks Ben! Makes heck of a lot more sense. Was speaking again with old son last night (both my sons received anthropology degrees, young son went on with his studies) and he asked if I remember there field school when he was a senior in Natchitoches. It was a pre-contact (not by much) Caddoan site on the grounds of the federal fish hatchery. He went on to say that he finally got a chance to see the completed report on their work and some of the faunal remains they found were identified as a large cervid most likely elk.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
WS
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Coworker has in-laws in the floyadada area and he says a couple of ranches in the"area" have elk and they are "well protected".
Some spelling errors can be corrected by a vowel movement. ~ MOLON LABE ~
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Kaywoodie, Those Texas elk with the long ears are related to THE TEXAS JACKALOPE. Here is a real Texas elk cow taken on the Long View Ranch in 2013: No horns, but a lot of excellent meat! PS - since you have such good taste in rifles, you may want to check out some recent threads over on Africa Hunting forum that deal with .405 double rifles: https://www.africahunting.com/threads/double-rifle-in-405-winchester.38622/
Last edited by crshelton; 05/28/17. Reason: update
CRS, NRA Benefactor Life Member, Whittington Center, TSRA, DWWC, DRSS Android Reloading Ballistics App at http://www.xplat.net/
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
WS
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Campfire Ranger
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Elk are exotics in Texas
From regs: Exotic animal refers to grass-eating or plant-eating, single-hoofed or cloven-hoofed mammals that are not indigenous or native to Texas and are known as ungulates, including animals from the deer and antelope families that landowners have introduced into this state. Includes, but is not limited to feral hog, Aoudad sheep, Axis deer, Elk, Sika deer, Fallow deer, Blackbuck antelope, Nilgai antelope, and Russian boar. Exotic fowl refers to any avian species that is not indigenous to this state, including ratites (emu, ostrich, rhea, cassowary, etc.).
There are no state bag or possession limits or closed seasons on exotic animals or fowl on private property. It is against the law to:
Hunt an exotic without a valid hunting license. Hunt an exotic on a public road or right-of-way. Hunt an exotic without the landowner's permission. Possess an exotic or the carcass of an exotic without the owner's consent. The last law listed is a bit odd. Are you supposed to get the owners consent before you acquire their carcass? You sure as hell won't get consent after you acquire it!
My home is the "sanctuary residence" for my firearms.
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