Elk calf project

[zia]

Haven't posted any of the wildlife projects lately, there have been quite a few this year... deer CWD testing/tonsil biopsy, desert sheep capture and relocation, adult elk and antelope capture and gps collar, even darted an injured pregnant Mexican Gray wolf from the helicopter (please keep wolf comments to yourself, I realize its controversial but when they are your patient and you are charged with their care its a whole different ballgame as a veterinarian). Anyway, last week was a fun one, we captured and gps collared elk calves from horseback studying survival/predation. If something kills the calf.....wolf, bear , coyote, eagle etc we can do a forensic and DNA study to determine cause of death and use that data to help manage predator and prey. We (a cooperative project with several game departments and universities) collared around 350 cow elk from helicopter or corral traps the last couple years so we have a general idea of where they are calving. We ride our horses in the area looking down into the brush and locate the calves, they don't run the first 3-4 days of age, get off the horse, blindfold the calf , gather measurement and health data, collar and release without much stress. Mama typically isn't far away and returns in short order. Next few weeks we will start the bighorn sheep projects like the ones I have posted in the past, can't quite get all the way into the high-country yet.

The search is on....big country

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Curious on the collar, is it elastic, or, stretchy to some extent?

You have a great job.

Thank you for what you do.

 

[zia]

great question! Yes its a material that stretches with the calf and breaks away after a few months.

 

[Hunting Wife]

That brings back lots of memories. Nothing beats the fun parts of that job

Great horseback photo. Thanks for sharing!

 

[silasd]

Haven't posted any of the wildlife projects lately, there have been quite a few this year... deer CWD testing/tonsil biopsy, desert sheep capture and relocation, adult elk and antelope capture and gps collar, even darted an injured pregnant Mexican Gray wolf from the helicopter (please keep wolf comments to yourself, I realize its controversial but when they are your patient and you are charged with their care its a whole different ballgame as a veterinarian). Anyway, last week was a fun one, we captured and gps collared elk calves from horseback studying survival/predation. If something kills the calf.....wolf, bear , coyote, eagle etc we can do a forensic and DNA study to determine cause of death and use that data to help manage predator and prey. We (a cooperative project with several game departments and universities) collared around 350 cow elk from helicopter or corral traps the last couple years so we have a general idea of where they are calving. We ride our horses in the area looking down into the brush and locate the calves, they don't run the first 3-4 days of age, get off the horse, blindfold the calf , gather measurement and health data, collar and release without much stress. Mama typically isn't far away and returns in short order. Next few weeks we will start the bighorn sheep projects like the ones I have posted in the past, can't quite get all the way into the high-country yet.

The search is on....big country
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That's pretty awesome stuff; thanks for sharing.

 

[BoulderBulls]

Haven't posted any of the wildlife projects lately, there have been quite a few this year... deer CWD testing/tonsil biopsy, desert sheep capture and relocation, adult elk and antelope capture and gps collar, even darted an injured pregnant Mexican Gray wolf from the helicopter (please keep wolf comments to yourself, I realize its controversial but when they are your patient and you are charged with their care its a whole different ballgame as a veterinarian). Anyway, last week was a fun one, we captured and gps collared elk calves from horseback studying survival/predation. If something kills the calf.....wolf, bear , coyote, eagle etc we can do a forensic and DNA study to determine cause of death and use that data to help manage predator and prey. We (a cooperative project with several game departments and universities) collared around 350 cow elk from helicopter or corral traps the last couple years so we have a general idea of where they are calving. We ride our horses in the area looking down into the brush and locate the calves, they don't run the first 3-4 days of age, get off the horse, blindfold the calf , gather measurement and health data, collar and release without much stress. Mama typically isn't far away and returns in short order. Next few weeks we will start the bighorn sheep projects like the ones I have posted in the past, can't quite get all the way into the high-country yet.

The search is on....big country
View attachment 185063View attachment 185064View attachment 185065

Thanks for sharing very cool! When do you think you all will start getting results/publishing. Is this a few month time frame? 6 months? Years+?

 

[zia]

Its a 10 year study that started around 3 years ago. There are a number of projects under the umbrella of the study....calf survival/fecundity, habitat selection and usage, behavioral observations etc comparing elk in wolf areas to non-wolf areas among others. Since many of the studies are for masters degrees I suppose data will trickle in for a long time.

 

[theat]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing. I had the opportunity to work on the elk calf mortality study done in the southern Bitterroot here in Montana. Here is a link to an article that does a decent job of explaining the study and results of the research.

https://www.cfc.umt.edu/Files/BitterrootElk.pdf

Catching calving at the beginning of their lives was much more pleasant that catching them 6-7 months later in the middle of winter!




This 6 month old calf was the first animal I caught that winter and it about killed me. Had to chase him up and down that mountain for 15 minutes.

 

[TheTone]

Catching calves is a good time. It’s amazing how quickly they go from easily caught to running away from you like it’s a game. I have some great memories of getting my butt handed to me by one in a large meadow. After two or three laps back and forth I decided he was too big/fast and gave up. Also a good time being the guy on shotgun duty in grizzly country when the calf starts bawling like crazy

 

[Steelsearchin]

Way cool!!! I gave buddy a little grief on 2019 for passing a big collared cow in the Lincoln with a cow tag in his pocket. He was on the fence about shooting a collared animal, so I shut my trap. I can see both sides of the coin as to shooting/passing those critters.

Thanks for sharing and for what you do!!

 

[MNElkNut]

Theat---I got right to the good part and there is no page 27! What are the results of the study?

 

[zia]

Way cool!!! I gave buddy a little grief on 2019 for passing a big collared cow in the Lincoln with a cow tag in his pocket. He was on the fence about shooting a collared animal, so I shut my trap. I can see both sides of the coin as to shooting/passing those critters.

Thanks for sharing and for what you do!!

perfectly fine to shoot a collared animal just give us back the collar!

 

[MNElkNut]

perfectly fine to shoot a collared animal just give us back the collar!

I understand that it is fine to shoot a collared animal, but could you expand a little on what the effects are if you do shoot one? I have to imagine that it has an effect on your research. As a hunter, I would like to know the effects of shooting the animal so I can make a decision on whether to shoot it or not. I assume that if there are two cows standing next to each other you would rather we shoot the one without the collar. how much does it affect your study? Do you have to go through the effort of collaring another one to replace the one that is harvested? I think it is good insight to give hunters so they know the ramifications of taking the animal with a collar.

Think of these two scenarios. One, there is a big 6X6 bull with a collar. I will count to 0 and then shoot it! But what if there are 2 similar cows and one has a collar. The collared one is 5 yards closer so normally I would shoot that one. But if that is collared, I would for sure shoot the additional 5 yards!