The N.C Wildlife Federation is sponsoring an elk watching trip September 24th in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Join a biologist at 4:30 PM in the Cataloochee Valley part of the park to learn about the five year experimental reintroduction of elk. A $50.00 (ouch) fee will go toward the federation’s park habitat conservation project. To register call Chris @ 704-332-5696.
Bruce
How many are you allowed to take. Do you need a N.C. big game stamp? How do hunters register for this and is it open to out of state license holders. This is exciting! Elk is fantastic, not nearly as “gamey” tasting as deer.
Thanks
Matt
MB
Hopefully there will enough to have a season on them some day. They are certainly part of the natural North American food chain. But unfortunately, hunters already killed them all once. Perhaps if they limited the hunt to exclude the cowards with guns, the populations could be maintained as they were for over 40,000 years.
tha wookie
Your post made very good points until you had to start calling people names.
MB
You’re right. I didn’t mean that everyone with a gun is a coward. That is certainly not the case. I did a poor job at expressing that the people who hunted them to localized extinction using guns were cowards. The reason why I used the word coward is because they are not really hunters. They wouldn’t know what a hunt was even as a mountain lion sank its fangs into their necks.
I’m cerainly agree with you about the meat supply food chain. But shooting an animal can be just as cruel and disrespectful. If you don’t believe me, think about all the deer left roaming with wounds because the gunner was too lazy to track it, i know that real hunting is a part of our natural role, and I am not against it. But it’s all in the approach. There always must be a high level of respect… got to go…
Tha Wookie
Been to Cataloochee several times to see the elk. You don’t need to have a ranger tour, but donate the money anyway…i’, a member of the rocky mountain elk foundation, and i support elk re-introduction with my dues and contributions. Unfortuanately, the SMNP elk have gotten accustomed to people, and this time of year you can stand on the road and they will walk up and graze within 25 yards or so sometimes…good for video and pics though! I have bunches of them!
Big Dee
I see there’s still the same obtuse insulting going on here…
But to stay on topic and not insult those who need it, Pennsylvania has a big elk herd now and the watching is very good. http://www.fermatainc.com/pennelk/
Elk watcher
You can do either a dayhike or a very easy one-night backpack on the Elk Hiking Trail. It’s near Benezette, PA in the Elk State Forest (which is in Elk County, of course). Hurry up - they’ll be bugling pretty soon and you want to be there (at a respectful distance, of course)! For a map of the Elk Trail, contact the Elk Forest District Headquarters in Emporium, PA 814-486-3353.
Two Hats
Two Hats
Are there any ADA compliant areas that someone in a wheelchair can ELK WATCH. Is it appropriate for children ? Will the ELK be mating? I was hoping to bring my 8 year old niece and I do not want to have to explain that sort of thing. Can you feed the ELK ? I know in some petting zoos, there are little gumball machines that dispense wild animal treats instead of candy. Do they have facilities such as that ? Are there wheelchair accessibile restrooms? Sory for all the questions!! Thanks in advance for your help.
Peace Out
Wheelman
GA-ME (Someday)
Wheelman
Wheelman,
I doubt that they would like to feed the elk or any other wild animal.
On another note, anyone have any ideas where to backpack in the Cataloochee Valley area? I will get there 9/24 late morning. I would like to make camp somewhere near there, take “The Elk Tour” and hike out on Sunday. I like to stay in an area where I can get some views. Any peaks in the area?
Bruce
The best peak in the area with views would definitely be Mt. Sterling. It has a fire tower that you can climb with one of the very best views in the Smokies (be sure to climb onto the roof!). It’s about 7 or 8 miles from the valley. I don’t know how much you want to walk. You could do a fairly long and steep overnighter to it but if you did two nights including Mt. Sterling it’d be pretty easy. The Boogerman trail is an excellent 7 mile dayhike with groves of huuuge Poplars. Easy loops can be made on the west side of the valley too. There’s some nice forest in that area. Hemphill Bald has some decent views. Just check out a trail map and it’s all pretty clear what to do. Really, the whole area around Cataloochee is great and you can’t go wrong. Mt. Sterling is definitely what you want if you’re looking for a view. I hope it’s not too hazy though! Enjoy.
zach attack
Why not, I feed wild animals all the time and they LOVE IT!!! Is it really that wrong?
Wheelman
GA ME someday!:boy
Wheelman
OK Wheelman, feed the animals.
Make sure you feed some bears too. I recommend you tease them with the food. Hold it out for them to see, then hide it behind your back. Better yet, stick the food down your pants.
Bears love that game!
Bruce
in cataloochee valley, the road in the valley is flat and fairly smooth, and paved up to the elk viewing areas. lots of roadside parking and a parking area at the end of the pavement where it turns to gravel…it would be an excellent place to watch the elk from a wheelchair…the best time is the two to three hours before dusk though…midday, the elk are in the woods staying cool and bug-free. DO NOt feed them…big no-no with the rangers, and there ia always a ranger there…you can’t even make noises toward them technically…no calling or yelling to them…it is a very quiet and solemn watching event except for the occasionally a-hole who has to blow his horn to get them to look his way. the biggest issue is finding you way to the valley and the curvey mountain road to get there.
as for hiking…there are several trailheads in the valley…
little cataloochee trail, caldwell fork trail, big fork ridge trail, rough fork trail, boogerman trail palmer creek trail…you can creat many different daytrip loops or overnight loops if you like to backcourty camp…
a nice loop is up palmer creek trail for a mile, go right on pretty hollow creek trail for 4 miles, right on sterling ridge trail for 1.5 miles to mt sterling, right on mt sterling trail for a mile or so, then the long bunk trail for 4 miles down to the little cataloochee trail where 4 miles will take you back to palmer creek and the parking area…total round trip about 17 miles…whew!
Big Dee
Just a reminder…
Apparently the elk are usually hanging aroung the Catalochee Valley Park headquarters late afternoon. It isn’t necessary to pay to see them, although I encourage you to donate to the park habitat conservation project.
Remember, THE ELK perform daily. :lol
See you there!:cheers
Bruce