Go Natural: Raise Elk
(Page 2 of 4)
March/April 1971
By Victor Croley
"Elk," said the General, "are much better adapted to forest grazing and browsing than goats. They are able to defend themselves and protect their young from wolves and other predators. Furthermore, they do not damage useful trees by gnawing at the bark or girdling them, as do goats. They can feed on leaf buds and twigs as high as eight feet above ground, twice the reach of a goat."
RELATED CONTENT
Foraging elk, the General found, have a beneficial effect on rangeland. Elk do not feed on evergreens and pine and cedar are not damaged by their browsing. By clearing out grapevines, berry bushes, green brier and buck brush and removing the lower branches of the hardwoods, elk encourage the growth of desirable specimen trees by allowing more sunlight and improved ventilation to reach them.
Although he advocated open range and central feeding for the elk herds that were soon developed in the larger National Parks, General Russ preferred a fenced enclosure for his own needs. The cost of this fencing was reasonable as the posts were cut from red cedar growing on his land.
A ready and profitable market for all the elk meat Russ could produce was found in St. Louis where the finer hotels and restaurants proudly featured it on their menus.
General Russ demonstrated that domesticated and under fence, elk can be raised at less cost than beef, pork or mutton.
Elk are more useful than goats for clearing underbrush; they are more hardy and required much less atten tion. Nature provides them with a winter coat which is ample protection during severe weather and they can take shelter in brush and cedar breaks, thus eliminating the need for sheds or housing.
Further experiments have shown that elk are fond of grain and can be fattened on it like cattle but at much less cost for they need only half the rations required for a beef animal. Unlike cattle, they can be carried through the winter on very little or no supplemental roughage, especially in sections of light snow, such as the Ozarks. But elk thrive also in the high country of the Rocky Mountains and herds in Yellowstone National Park multiply with minimal protection, needing only to be protected from their most serious predator, man. Indeed, just a few years ago the Yellowstone National Park elk increased beyond the capacity of their forage, and it was necessary to harvest some 600 animals to bring their numbers down to a reasonable herd for the range.
