Recorded in the mountains of Kentucky. This Bull Elk was a brute! He wasn’t afraid and watched us as much as we watched him. He was the king there. 🙂
The Rocky Mountain Elk that roam the hardwood forests of eastern Kentucky were established by a six-year restoration program. Eastern elk were native to Kentucky but were eradicated by the 1880s, due to habitat loss and unregulated hunting.
From 1997 through 2002, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife (KDFWR) employees live-trapped 1,547 elk from wild herds in Kansas, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, and North Dakota, and transported them by truck to eight stocking sites in Harlan, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Martin, Perry and Pike counties.
The elk restoration zone covers 16 counties in southeastern Kentucky, about approximately 4.1 million acres.
Kentucky’s elk population began to increase rapidly following the last stocking in 2002 and by 2010, the project goal of 10,000 was reached. In the 2018-19 Elk Report KDFWR biologist estimated that Kentucky’s elk herd now numbered about 13,100.
Art Lander’s Outdoors: A look at Kentucky’s elk population;