Virginian Elk

 It all started with a chat while kayaking. Last year my wife and I went on a kayak trip at a local Nature Conservancy (TNC) property. There were about 15 of us, including a few TNC staff, in addition to our guide. During the three hour trip, I had the chance to chat with most of the participants. One of the TNC staff told me about a trip she had just taken to another TNC property in the far western corner of Virginia to see elk and said if we were interested, to let her know and she would get us included in next year’s trip. It sounded really interesting, so my wife and I put it on our fall trip-list and, after a few coordination emails, we were headed to Abingdon, VA to see elk this fall.

We met up with one of our guides and two other guests early Friday morning before the hotel breakfast even opened. He drove us to met the rest of our group at the TNC office and fill up on donuts and coffee for the long drive to elk country. For the first hour, we drove through winding country roads in the dark. As the sun rose, the tops of hills lit up with fall colors and we could see the river we had been following. Approaching our first stop, to pick up Leon, the heart and energy behind the reintroduction, we came around a bend to a large coal processing plant and long rows of coal train cars awaiting their trip to the eastern seaboard. Some probably would pass near us in either Norfolk or Newport News, on their way to overseas destinations. Seeing this large industrial complex in these beautiful mountains, when we had seen few signs of humans besides some random stores and houses, was jarring. But this is the historic and economical reality here. The land isn't good for farming and there was coal the world needed right under their feet. Now, the coal is harder to get and people understand the impacts more. So the region is embracing other opportunities.

As we drove, we talked about how that transition is happening. There is local interest in alternate energy sources like wind farms and solar arrays. There is a recognition of the natural beauty the area holds and the tourism money that it can bring. The elk herds play a large role in that and the elk have been embraced by most of the communities.

A few minutes later we make our first stop and pick up Leon. He is a hunter and local leader whose family has been here for several generations. After a trip to the Rocky Mountains to hunt elk many years ago, he became interested in having them roam his home county again. So as the state thought about reintroducing elk, he was a strong advocate. He even helped start the Southwest Virginia chapter of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Leon led us out to some Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) property on reclaimed mine lands. The gravel road wound up and over several hills and around small stands of trees. As we crested one hill, the cars in front stopped. Someone called out: Elk ahead! I quickly got out of the car and grabbed my camera and binoculars. Walking to the edge, I looked down on a small field with 8 bull elk and a few deer standing around. The size different between the deer and the elk surprises me. I knew the elk would be larger but they looked to be twice the size of the deer. Like football players standing around an elementary school play ground. The elk range from 700 – 1000 lbs and stand 4.5-5 ft tall at the shoulder [DWR]; white-tailed deer are 200 – 300 lb and 3-3.5 ft tall.

Deer and bull elk together

The elk looked up and saw us but didn't pay us any heed. Some elk would watch us and others continued to feed. I found a good vantage point to set up my camera and started firing off photos. Some elk would wander into the brush and trees surrounding the field while others approached a friend to share a few blades of grass and then walk off on their own. The group of 8 kept forming and reforming small groups all around the clearing.

Meanwhile, we could hear bluebirds and meadowlarks singing and a couple of the bare trees just dripped with northern flickers. We counted at least 20 flickers in the trees and flying around the opening.

Grazing and bumping antlers

After we settled in to watching, one of the larger elk meandered up to a smaller one that was eating on the edge of a watering hole. He walked right up face-to-face and started nibbling grass. I heard a small clinking sound. Then another. I couldn't be sure but it sounded like antlers hitting together. Looking around, these were the only two close enough to hitting antlers but both just kept eating. Closer inspection revealed that as they ate, their antlers bumped into each other. The elk didn't seem to care. They eventually walked away from each other with not a glance back.

But something stirred in the larger one. He walked up to another elk and rattled their antlers. It seemed a halfhearted engagement, both knocking their antlers together but not showing any real aggression. After a minute or so, they disengaged and the larger one wandered off. A few minutes later he encountered another elk and again engaged in a bit of a tussle but nothing very aggressive. I was kind of hoping for a good fight like they show on documentaries but that wasn't to be. This appeared to me to be the largest, perhaps oldest, elk going around and making sure everyone else remembered he was still boss. No one was up to challenging him today.

A small tussle that doesn't lead to anything

Eventually our group came together to hear Leon and a biologist from the DWR talk about the re-introduction program and some of the history. Before European settlement, elk populated much of the eastern US. But land-use changes and hunting pressure drove down the populations. By 1855, the last elk was seen in Virginia. By the late 1800’s, all of the elk were extirpated from the eastern US. There was a re-introduction attempt in Virginia started around 1917. It was aimed at hunting so more attention seemed to be paid to where the hunters were than what the elk needed. This included elk being introduced to Virginia Beach which historically did not have an elk population. Most of the herds were gone by 1926. Kentucky was successful in the late 1990’s re-introducing elk and this led Virginia to consider re-introducing them. Starting in 2012, VA brought 75 elk over from Kentucky. The herds are now up to over 250 with the goal of hosting around 400 elk in Virginia. So far, all are here in the far southwestern corner bordering Kentucky and Tennessee, which also has an elk re-introduction program.

A couple of minutes in we heard the clanking of antlers and a few of us left the elk stories and turned our attention back to the elk in front of us. Two of them were having a pretty good go at each other. It wasn't real energetic and there was no jumping and rushing but they entangled their antlers, turned around each other a few times, and the larger one kept pushing the other's antlers to the ground. Some of the tension was broken by the sight of grass dangling off their antlers.

A more aggressive tussle that picked up some grass

After that fight, all the elk started meandering out of the clearing and into the woods. We wrapped up the stories of the re-introduction, which has been a great success with nearly 400 elk across three counties. We piled back into our cars and drove up to an overlook to have a morning snack and look out over the Cumberland forest lands TNC has acquired. But that will be a story for another time.

For more information see: DWR video on monitoring elk populations or read up on more Virginia elk history. Viewing tours are available through Breaks Interstate Park and at DWR viewing platforms.

'Til next time, enjoy the outdoors wherever you are. If you like what you read here, consider subscribing to blog announcements over on the right and leave me a comment. Thanks for reading!