The Age Old Problem That Elk Are Smart - A Study

[Nameless Range]

We all know this to some degree, but I thought it was interesting:

The article:

Study finds elk are too smart for their own good, and the good of Utah

Animals in the wild are often smarter than we give them credit for. This time it's the elk.

phys.org

The study:

https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jwmg.22148

 

[TOGIE]

i can't help but think that study gives elk more credit than they deserve.

the article mentions by "middle of rifle season."

the elk don't know the difference between private property, public property, NGO property, city property or county property. they don't know they have a higher likelihood of dying on public and lower likelihood of dying on private.

they move and move until they stop getting bothered, which ultimately ends up being private land. they didn't "go" there. they ended up there and stopped moving because they stopped being bothered.

they then ultimately stop hearing, seeing, smelling things a mile in the other direction for several weeks? ultimately start filtering back in that direction. if four legged predators were bound to public land we'd see the same phenomenon, hunting season or no hunting season.

maybe i need to read the study though...

 

[Gerald Martin]

i can't help but think that study gives elk more credit than they deserve.

the article mentions by "middle of rifle season."

the elk don't know the difference between private property, public property, NGO property, city property or county property. they don't know they have a higher likelihood of dying on public and lower likelihood of dying on private.

they move and move until they stop getting bothered, which ultimately ends up being private land. they didn't "go" there. they ended up there and stopped moving because they stopped being bothered.

they then ultimately stop hearing, seeing, smelling things a mile in the other direction for several weeks? ultimately start filtering back in that direction. if four legged predators were bound to public land we'd see the same phenomenon, hunting season or no hunting season.

maybe i need to read the study though...

Agree for the most part but your explanation doesn’t factor in memory and habit.
Elk definitely have the ability to learn from experience and change their movements based on changing seasonal conditions and previous hunting pressure.

 

[Irrelevant]

they didn't "go" there. they ended up there and stopped moving because they stopped being bothered.

Maybe initially, but they certainly learn that if it was safe there one year, it may be safe there again, and if that continues, they "learn" to just move immediately to the safe place. It's just like a migration, they don't wander aimlessly, it's a learned movement.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Maybe initially, but they certainly learn that if it was safe there one year, it may be safe there again, and if that continues, they "learn" to just move immediately to the safe place. It's just like a migration, they don't wander aimlessly, it's a learned movement.

Which is why, IMO, shoulder seasons and long regular seasons have proven largely ineffective to provide relief for landowners affected by too many elk.

Such intense pressure has been applied to accessible areas that elk who stayed on public were killed. Survivors learn to find sanctuary and don’t select public land as a preferred place to live. Multiple generations of elk have been conditioned to select private land sanctuaries.

 

[Nameless Range]

i can't help but think that study gives elk more credit than they deserve.

the article mentions by "middle of rifle season."

the elk don't know the difference between private property, public property, NGO property, city property or county property. they don't know they have a higher likelihood of dying on public and lower likelihood of dying on private.

I agree they don't know those categories of landscape, but as the others above have spoken to, I do think there is more to it than immediate sensory response. I think elk have a sense of place and places. An obvious example of this is migratory routes. Hunting elk in 100,000 acre tracts of beetle-kill makes me think this as well. They head through places and take paths with a destination far in the distance in mind and it couldn't be clearer that they know where they are and where they are going. I believe they have maps in their heads - with topography, landcover, and even scale bars.

One thing this article could lend itself to, is the private land tag crowd.I believe that if private land tags are increased, as they recently were in Montana, we chiefly need to emphasize equal opportunity in the drawing/purchasing process. Lest we head in a direction so many spoke up against over the last few months.

 

[GearJunky]

Which is why, IMO, shoulder seasons and long regular seasons have proven largely ineffective to provide relief for landowners affected by too many elk.

Such intense pressure has been applied to accessible areas that elk who stayed on public were killed. Survivors learn to find sanctuary and don’t select public land as a preferred place to live. Multiple generations of elk have been conditioned to select private land sanctuaries.

Every year I hunt a large private ranch, that is surrounded by public land. We hunt the private ground for several days straight. We kill multiple elk every year (cows and bulls).... The point is... we shoot elk, we move, we shoot more elk... The elk will not return to the timber. They have "learned" that even though their buddy just dropped dead, it is still safer to be out on this ranch, rather than up on the public ground. So I fully agree elk, get pushed around and eventually find a "safe" place to land. But over time, they "learn" and then they are very stubborn to leave.

 

[JEL]

I agree they don't know those categories of landscape, but as the others above have spoken to, I do think there is more to it than immediate sensory response. I think elk have a sense of place and places. An obvious example of this is migratory routes. Hunting elk in 100,000 acre tracts of beetle-kill makes me think this as well. They head through places and take paths with a destination far in the distance in mind and it couldn't be clearer that they know where they are and where they are going. I believe they have maps in their heads - with topography, landcover, and even scale bars.

One thing this article could lend itself to, is the private land tag crowd.I believe that if private land tags are increased, as they recently were in Montana, we chiefly need to emphasize equal opportunity in the drawing/purchasing process. Lest we head in a direction so many spoke up against over the last few months.

Agree with this. I mean our beef cows know when we open a pasture gate and give them a little push where they are going if they have been there before. The older cows always know the way home. Can't imagine elk haven't figured out where they are safe at different times of the year.

 

[elkduds]

As with all wildlife, elk have intelligence humans don't understand. We use our logic-and-spoken-language based brains in our attempts to understand and describe their lives and behavior. They operate much more in the realms of instinct, sensory influence, herd society and communication, emotional memory and constant, intimate interaction w their environment. Since 15% of elk tags are filled annually in CO, it follows that elk are 6.5 times smarter than CO hunters.

We've got a lot to learn from wildlife.

 

[FI460]

Every year I hunt a large private ranch, that is surrounded by public land. We hunt the private ground for several days straight. We kill multiple elk every year (cows and bulls).... The point is... we shoot elk, we move, we shoot more elk... The elk will not return to the timber. They have "learned" that even though their buddy just dropped dead, it is still safer to be out on this ranch, rather than up on the public ground. So I fully agree elk, get pushed around and eventually find a "safe" place to land. But over time, they "learn" and then they are very stubborn to leave.

An oversimplified evolutionary explanation would be that elk who seek out private land during hunting season have a higher likelihood of survival. Generations (elk generations) of heavy pressure on public land could select for elk that prefer to move to private land during hunting season.

It will take many generations of expanded private land hunting to sway the selective pressure in the opposite direction.

 

[Gerald Martin]

An oversimplified evolutionary explanation would be that elk who seek out private land during hunting season have a higher likelihood of survival. Generations (elk generations) of heavy pressure on public land could select for elk that prefer to move to private land during hunting season.

It will take many generations of expanded private land hunting to sway the selective pressure in the opposite direction.

This is why plans for improved habitat on public lands to attract elk are doomed to fail unless accompanied by a drastic reduction in hunting pressure.

 

[BuzzH]

This is why plans for improved habitat on public lands to attract elk are doomed to fail unless accompanied by a drastic reduction in hunting pressure.

In Montana, there are tens of thousands of acres with awesome public land habitat that are biological deserts because of hunting pressure.