The History of Elk in NY State

[adkbuck]

The question posed by sbiono51 in his post: http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/26963-elk-in-new-york/  got me thinking and inspired me to do a bit of research about elk in NY and effort to reestablish them. I'll share what I found out.

 

1.Elk in North America

 

According to the USFWS elk have been in North America for the last 120,000 years, having migrated from Asia across the great land bridge which once separated the Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean.  More than 1 million elk  exist in the US, mostly in the West with several small herds in the East.

 

Figure 1, Current range of elk in North America

 

The closest wild herd to NY is the Pennsylvanian herd numbering about 800 animals in Cameron, Clearfield and Elk Counties. In PA approximately 70 animals are taken by hunters each year through a state run lottery.

 

 

2.  History of Elk in New York State

 

According to the RMEF the fossil record  shows Elk ranged throughout much the Eastern US for most at least the last 3000 years including all of NYS.

Figure 2, Historical Range of Elk in the Eastern US

 

The according to the RMEF ( http://www.otsego.org/prca/articles/eastelk.htm), prior to the modern era  the last elk was killed in NY in 1847. 

 

3. Reintroduction attempts in the 20th Century.

 

Historically, there have been several attempts to restore elk in NY State.  A number of unsuccessful attempts were made from 1900 to 1940 in the Raquette Lake area of the Adirondacks.  An initial release of 20 animals by private citizens was made in in 1900 followed by subsequent releases for 155 additional animals.  Successful reproduction in the wild was taking place and the herd around Raquette Lake grew to an estimated 350 animals. 

 

Another attempt was made by the NYSDEC in the Debar Mountain Refuge area near Meacham Lake in 1932. 

 

Figure 3. Elk at Debar Mountain Refuge prior to release.

 

it believed that the Adirondack population due to both release sites was totally wiped out by 1946 due to poaching and/or brain worm disease.

 

4. Recent Studies

 

In October of 1998 a report was released discussing the feasibility of restoring Elk New York State.  The report was sponsored by the RMEF and the study was conducted jointly by the SUNY ESF, Syracuse, University and the Human Dimensions Research, DNR, Cornell, University.  The results of the study indicated that suitable habitat existed in three area of NYS.  Namely the Peripheral Adirondacks, the Catskills and a SW NYS area.  Factors such as forage, cover, habitat diversity, road density and social acceptability were taken into account. 

 

Figure 4. Habitat suitability results.

 

If any introductions are made in the future it would likely be in the  "Peripheral Adirondack" or Catskill area.   The study in its entirety can be found at:  http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/hdru/pubs/FeasElkNYS.pdf

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2015 by adkbuck

[growalot]

I'd love seeing a huntable population in NYS

[Skillet]

Cool stuff, it would be awesome to have them. Of course, they won't last long after the wolves get reintroduced. Nice job putting that together adk.

[ATbuckhunter]

It would be awesome to have them but I doubt NY will release them in the next 5 to 10 years. I'd love to see them and especially now that my hunting area is in one of the high habitat areas.

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[EspressoBuzz]

Great Info! Thanks!

[d-bone20917]

Nice job adkbuck.  

[Mr VJP]

Just an FYI for any who might not be aware, the Elk in PA are Rocky Mountain Elk that were transplanted from the west.  The Elk that once inhabited the eastern US were Eastern Elk, which was a different species of Elk.

 

They were more suited to the terrain in the eastern states than Rocky Mountain Elk.  Although the Rocky Mountain Elk can survive in the east, it doesn't do so on a scale that could be considered thriving.  If the Eastern Elk was not extinct and could be repopulated in NY State, that would be something worth doing.  Rocky Mountain Elk require a great deal of baby sitting when released into eastern environments.

 

[BizCT]

Even if introduced to NY, doubtful we will be alive to hunt them. It will take years and then only a handful of tags will be giving out from thousands of applicants like PA. I'll probably never draw a PA in the next 40-50 years ether

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[adkbuck]

Thanks guys.  I sure learned a lot myself.  One of the articles I referenced talks about the possibility of some "Eastern" elk possibly still in existence.  Some of the eastern strain may have been transplanted to New Zealand from a game reserve in Massachusetts in 1905.  http://www.otsego.org/prca/articles/eastelk.htm  I agree it is unlikely that a huntable population will ever exist in NYS but it sure is interesting to speculate.  One wonders if the Rocky Mountain or one of the other strains of elk could adapt and evolve in an Eastern woodland loving sub species. 

 

There is a little story I would like to relate.  I had heard that attempts were made to reintroduce elk in the Adirondacks and I was hunting an area around Raquette Lake during the height of the rut mid November 2001.  I was about 2 mile from the nearest road on a ridge.  I saw some buck signs, rubs and a scrap line.  It was about 3 PM and I heard some branches cracking above me.  At first I thought it might be another hunter.   The I saw a big bodied brown animal about 50 yards above me.  Not knowing that the elk had been gone for many years I though for a brief couple of minutes that it might be an elk.   I couldn't see the head or rack. I knew he was very close to me but I couldn't see him and that made me very nervous (as in buck fever nervous).  After a few minutes the wind shifted and he was downwind of me.  Suddenly I saw a very wide rack big buck bounding away.  I never got a shot.  He was definitely a whitetail.

 

It was a good spot as I saw another smaller deer about 20 or 30 minutes later.  He was smaller deer but still a very respectable eight pointer.  I still had the big one on my mind I guess and I was shaken by the earlier encounter.   As a result I cleanly missed him!  I had to head back for work that night and didn't get back to that spot for another week.  I never saw another buck in there that season although I did connect with a big racked 8 pointer during the 2002 season a few miles away.

Edited March 10, 2015 by adkbuck

[ATbuckhunter]

What VJP said. The elk sent to New Zealand were the eastern elk because they generally had bigger antlers and had more points/non typical antlers when compared to the Rocky Mountain elk. I heard they released eastern elk back into Quebec wilderness. Although they aren't full elk but instead have some red deer in their blood.

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[nyantler]

As much as I think it would be exciting to have an elk population in NY... common sense would say that having another large game animal, especially in the ADK's, would create huge competition for food which is already in short supply. I don't know of many large open grazing areas in the ADKS, but I have yet to see all 6 million acres. If there was a feasible way to introduce elk, I think it would already have been done. It certainly would make for some added exciting hunting here in NY. It will really be something if the moose in NY ever reach a huntable population.

Edited March 10, 2015 by nyantler

[sampotter]

The elk reintroduced in the Adirondacks died off during harsh winters in the late 20s early 30s. I have a bunch of pictures my great-granddad took on Nehasane park of elk starving in the snow and futile attempts to save them. He even shot some home movies.

[nyantler]

The elk reintroduced in the Adirondacks died off during harsh winters in the late 20s early 30s. I have a bunch of pictures my great-granddad took on Nehasane park of elk starving in the snow and futile attempts to save them. He even shot some home movies.

Would love to see those pic!!

[Jennifer]

Some years ago I read an interesting article talking about how the North American Chestnut (now gone thanks to the blight) was once so numerous that that it was said that a squirrel could travel from the east coast to the Mississippi without touching the ground, and that the hills had a 'second snow' of white in the spring, in appearance only, due to the vast number of Chestnut blossoms. Chestnuts were once around 25% of standing timber in our Eastern forests. What was very interesting was that the Chestnut and Beech (also dying out) masts were extremely bountiful most years, and that it supported all of the wildlife we know today, in addition to the Eastern Elk, Passenger Pigeon, and Carolina Parakeet.

 

I couldn't find the exact article but I found this one: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/11/resurrecting-a-forest/

 

Our landscape and habitats have changed a lot, since then...

(American Chestnut stand)

(I really wish I could have been around to see the forests when they were like this, but I'd be long dead if I were!! Still, how cool would it have been?)

Edited March 11, 2015 by Jennifer

[ATbuckhunter]

They are coming up with blight resistant strains of the American chestnut so hopefully one day they'll reach their former glory.

[Jennifer]

They are coming up with blight resistant strains of the American chestnut so hopefully one day they'll reach their former glory.

 

Yep, they are doing the work right here in SUNY! http://www.esf.edu/chestnut/

[ATbuckhunter]

I can't wait to get my hands on some when they are done!

[Doc]

Ha-ha .... a huge percentage of the threads that are on this site relate to how we mostly think the DEC is under-funded, under-staffed, and really doesn't have a clue what the heck they are doing. And yet we have no shortage of additional tasks that we want them to take on. I do believe that the re-introduction and maintenance of a NYS elk herd would be no small feat, and would soak up a lot of DEC resources and effort.

 

How about we get control of the native critters first before we go any farther with introductions of new species.

[adkbuck]

Jennifer thanks for the SUNY ESF link on the chestnut.  Fascinating!  I was unaware the one out of 4 trees in the Eastern US was a chestnut. 

 

I had the impression that most of NYS state historically had chestnuts but that didn't seem true due the one chart he put up shows the historical Pre-blight range of the American Chestnut: 

Looking at this it seems that large portions of NYS were outside the range of the chestnut.  Also according to that chart much of the historical eastern elk range apparently did not have chestnuts.  Just an observation. 

 

One of the things I learned from the presentation was that chestnuts are stable annual producers of nuts.   Imagine if the Adirondacks had that food source available for wildlife.  Deer and Bear would probably go into winter in much better shape than they do now.   In portions of the ADK's I hunted last fall I don't think I found a single beechnut.  Compared to the stable nut bearing of healthy chestnut trees,  beechnut trees are very unstable from year to year.  So from what I could see the deer in the Central  and North Central  ADK's went into this winter without the benefit of a good beechnut crop.  I'm not a biologist but given the nasty winter they could have used the extra fat from a good nut crop.  Again, just an observation.

 

 

 

Doc, I don't think anyone is advocating the reintroduction of elk (especially me) into NYS at the time.  The post was in response to a previous poster inquiring about elk moving from PA to NY and was  geared to explaining what the history of elk was in NYS and what feasibility studies have been conducted regarding elk in NYS.   It was for information only. 

Edited March 12, 2015 by adkbuck

[Jennifer]

I have seen varying maps of the original range of the chestnut; the one you have above does seem to suggest that it was not commonly found through a large swath of NY state. Very interesting! I apologize if I was mistaken in my memory. Most range maps seem to suggest similar occurrence to the one you posted, or similar to this. I am under the impression that the forest was 1/4 Chestnut in the darker areas, where it was more of an incidental species in the lighter areas of the range.

 

Regardless I find it very interesting. I know it was once a very important and numerous tree locally to me, and have read accounts of them floating rafts 17-20 trees wide down the Allegany river as an export.

[Jennifer]

Sorry to get so off topic, though! I was only wondering what, if any, impact the annual mast of chestnut trees had on species such as Elk.

[ATbuckhunter]

Well from what I see the Chestnut was in the eastern elk range so I would guess they had a huge impact. As far as I know chestnuts are more beneficial and nutritious then acorns, as well as producing a stable crop.  

[adkbuck]

Sorry to get so off topic, though! I was only wondering what, if any, impact the annual mast of chestnut trees had on species such as Elk.

 

Certainly not off topic Jennifer.  Thanks for the additional historical range map.  The presence of a huge and reliable mast resource certainly has a huge impact on the winter survivability of a species.  A large cervid like the elk would certainly be in much better condition to survive.  It all makes sense.

 

I was impressed by the introductory scene of the 1992 movie "Last of the Mohegans" when Hawkeye cocks and fires his flintlock, his ball intercepting a prime eastern bull elk in mid flight. Chingachgook then takes out his knife and approaches the fallen bull reverently saying " We are sorry to kill you brother, we respect you strength and  speed."    (May not be the exact script)  A scene like that is hard to forget. 

 

I found it interesting that the film considered the historical presence of the elk in the eastern forest environment.

Edited March 13, 2015 by adkbuck

[sampotter]

Would love to see those pic!!

 

Sorry for the slow reply- my computer was busted, but here are pictures from Nehasane Park dating 1924-1931. As you can see, harsh winters did them in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phade]

Wow Sam...what great shots. Thanks for sharing them.