May Velvet

[dana]

I had heard rumours of an elk being spotted in the Clearwater area and today I was finally able to see one with my very own eyes. This is not an Adams bull. These pics were taken in Clearwater. Seems the elk are spreading. This is the first elk I've ever seen in Clearwater and I have lived here for 16 years. Looks like he's going to be a good bull once he's done growing too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24001a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24002a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24003b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24004a.jpg

[dana]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24005a.jpg

Here's some other velvet I saw today too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24008a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24009a.jpg

[dana]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24024a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24034a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/May24036a.jpg

[frenchbar]

Nice pics dana . love seeing the new growth antlers.have ya seen any good bucks yet .

[dana]

I have seen a few out past their ears already but it is still way too early to tell how good they are going to get. I saw a nice bull moose the other day on the way too work and wished I had of had my camera with me. He was in his summer coat and his velvet was chocolate brown. He was standing beside a little muley buck. Would have made for some great pics.

[kennyj]

Great photos Dana.What camera and lens do you use if you don't mind me asking?
Kenny

[frenchbar]

your right ,little early yet.ive seen a couple that have good potential,lots of smaller spikes and forkorns.few more weeks and should be starting to see a few of the bigger guys.not often ya get a shot of a muley and moose together,thats the way it useualy goes ,leaving the camera at home and ya see a shot of a lifetime.

[dana]

I've got an Olympus SP 550. It's just a point and shoot but it seems to work well for wildlife since it has a 18x optical zoom. I understand Olympus just released the SP570 which is supposedly a lot faster.

[LeverActionJunkie]

Pretty cool to have been able to see that elk hey. Would be great to see more and more coming around. Thanks for sharing the great photos, I always look forward to them.

[.308win]

NICE....VERY NICE DANA.......Take a trip to the kuts and say "It's Claearwater":lol:......Way to make some nice rumours!!!:lol:........Cool pics bud, was wondering what you guys were up to this weekend!....Only 3 days till the vist, can't wait!!...Thanks for posting!!

Perry

[hunter1947]

You were very lucky to stumble onto this bull elk Dana and also have the opportunity to put it onto your camera ,very nice photo of all animals ,thanks for posting them up for all to look at http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif.

[dana]

308,
Cody and I spent the day hunting bruins. Saw 6. The rut is starting to kick in as we saw a 6 foot+ boar hanging out with a 5'8" sow. They bailed too fast on us. We put a stalk on a 5'2" black that we watched feed into the timber edge. Got to 30 metres and the wind changed and the bear bailed. Did see an absolute monster yesterday too. He was definately pushing 7. He wasn't 100m from where we had put him to bed in late Oct. Both times he's had us pegged and bailed hard. They definately don't get that big by being stupid. Gonna giver a go again today. Next weekend it will be Jesse's turn. :)

[dana]

hunter1947,
My son was the one that spotted this bull. He was pretty darn excited. This was his first BC elk sighting. He's seen them in Jasper before but never in BC. Pretty cool to see his first in Clearwater. Last year my dad saw a raghorn in Little Fort. I've heard rumours of them being seen at the top of highway 24 hill, on the Dunn Lake Rd and in the Mahood area recently. I don't know if these are remnants of the Adams herd that have pushed West, or remnants of the Kamloops herd that have pushed north or if they are filtering down from McBride or Quesnel.

[LeverActionJunkie]

I've heard rumours of them being seen at the top of highway 24 hill, on the Dunn Lake Rd and in the Mahood area recently. I don't know if these are remnants of the Adams herd that have pushed West, or remnants of the Kamloops herd that have pushed north or if they are filtering down from McBride or Quesnel.


Hopefully all of the above, and hopefully they take root:grin:

[dana]

Leveraction,
I have mixed feelings about the elk. On one hand, I would love to one day be able to hunt them in my backyard, but on the other hand, I know increasing elk numbers are not good for muleys. Especially in areas of tight restricted winter range. Elk outcompete the muleys for the winter food supply. But.... it would be nice to feed the wolves with something other than muleys and moose.

[LeverActionJunkie]

Good point's Dana, I too would enjoy hunting them close to home. Never thought of the downside tho. Maybe as the beatles kill off more and more pine feed will become more abundant. Guess time will tell on this one.

[pupper]

very cool to see the antlers budding now, I saw a blacktail buck on friday coming home from work with his antlers starting.

[muley kid]

i was woundering when you were goin to snap some pics of him lol i have been filmin that bugger for over a month now.. hope him and his cow stay : D

[dana]

Muleykid,
Has he been in the same place for the past month? If so, I'm normally more on the ball at spotting than that. Saw him again this morn. I heard through the grapevine that you picked up some elk tine. Wasn't from this guy was it? Or did you sneak over to the Adams and find some tine over there? I've been seeing a beauty bull in the Adams numerous times this spring. Haven't caught him on film yet this year. Got him once last spring in the velvet and once hard horned last fall.

[Orangethunder]

Nice elk find! I think that those elk started showing up once I started practicing my calls, likely from all over. Once they got the CW they didn't want to leave...:mrgreen:

[Laurence_Erickson]

awesome pictures Dana,Is this bull actually on the west side of the river?

[dana]

Laurence,
Currently he's living in 3-40. Curious as to whether he'll stay put or wander somewhere else. Hope he stays put so I can take pics of him fully grown and hard horned.

[canucks6]

u will be huntunig elk here before u know it. they transplanted them into the west kootenays 25 yrs ago and they are everywhere. they have taken over 2 of my familys mule deer holes that were passed down to me from my grandpa. the spots used to pruduce 180 bucks every year. nothin in the last five.