Habitat Management For

ELK

Habitat management for

In Utah

Rocky mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) are found in all the major mountain ranges of Utah except the Raft River Mountains. Elk are most numerous in the Wasatch, Uintah, Cache, Nebo, Manti-LaSal, and Fish Lake areas. They are found in mountain brushlands, mountain meadows, and open parks where heavy conifer timber areas are available for cover. Aspen areas are also used extensively for both feed and cover. Elk often use a general area of one or several drainages but may migrate miles from one area to another for no apparent reason. The annual elk harvest averages about 5,322 head. The combined rifle and archery harvest for the years 1987 through 1984 is 5,421, 5,099, 5,631, and 5,140, respectively.

Elk are gregarious animals usually observed in herds or groups which vary from 5 to 15 animals or more. Larger bulls live apart from the herd except during the August, September, October breeding season. Bugling indicates that this time has come. Elk are polygamous and individual bulls gather and hold as many cows in their harem as possible. Harem size may be as many as 30, but 15 to 20 cows are the usual size. Elk calves are born in May and June. Cow elk are among the best of wild mothers, being able to defend their offspring against almost all natural enemies.

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Elk cows normally breed the third fall after birth to produce a single calf. Elk calves are produced in the proportion of about 45 to 60 calves per 100 cows in good habitat. Survival of calves is high.

A young bull elk in its second year normally has spike antlers; after that, the antler points may vary from 2 to 4 or 7 or more on each side. Except for spike bulls, antler points do not indicate age. By early August, the bull's antlers have completed their growth and IIvelvetll covers are stripped off by sparring and by thrashing against trees and bushes.

After the elk hunting season, surviving bull elk are in the proportion of about 30 to 50 bulls per 100 cows. Average age of

individuals in a vigorous elk herd in Utah is about 5 years although some individuals may live to an age of 10 years or more.

HABITAT NEEDS

FOOD - Elk predominantly feed on grass and forbs but also eat a considerable amount of browse. Forbs are taken in quantity during spring, summer, and fall. Grasses are utilized throughout the year with browse making up the largest part of the diet in the winter. Choice plant foods include alfalfa, apple (fruit), bitterbrush, ceanothus, clovers, elder, elk sedge, Idaho fescue, trefoils, mountainmahogany, orchardgrass, perennial ryegrass, redtop, salmonberry, Sandberg bluegrass, sweet vernalgrass, training blackberry, and willow. A list of plants and season of preference is attached. A serious problem in Utah is elk coming into agricultural lands.

WATER - Water is necessary and is usually abundant where elk are found. Some supplemental moisture is obtained from succulent plants and snow. Small water holes or wallows provide mud baths for the males to roll in. This is an important action associated with the beginning of rut.

COVER - Elks effectively use dense woods and rough ground to escape hunters and to find relief from severe weather. Elk often take refuge in dense lodgepole pine thickets and, when disturbed, may travel considerable distances. Calves, especially need cover for security during the first 10 weeks or their lives.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS - In general, elk are migratory, descending from their high elevation summer ranges to lower elevations for the winter. This altitudinal migration is usually triggered by the onset of bad weather, especially snow. One study stated that elk are creatures of habit, using the same winter and summer ranges, as well as the routes between them, year after year. Another study found that young calves appeared to learn seasonal range locations and movements from the mother cows. In Montana, it was found that the composition of winter

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and summer populations were independent of one another and that the elk probably migrated individually to winter and summer ranges both in spring and fall, and many individuals were found on the same summer range in consecutive years.

One study stated that the size of the winter range determined the population size for this species. Winter ranges are critical to elk populations as there are usually more animals per unit area than on spring-fall ranges. Winter ranges are scarce and intensively used and are, therefore, more sensitive to change. Elk losses may occur during severe weather on winter range in poor condition.

In general, roads adversely affect elk use of adjacent habitat. The type of road, quality of vegetative cover, and exposure of adjacent slopes were all found to influence the reduction of habitat use. In southeastern Washington, it was found that elk use increased 44 percent from the road edge to 0.1 mile away, 35 percent between 0.1 to 0.2 mile away, and was unchanged between 0.2 and 0.5 mile away from all road classes. Main roads, which were improved main routes of travel with constant maintenance, had the greatest impact on elk use of adjacent areas, primitive roads, which were unimproved, and seldom or never maintainedroads in fair to poor conditions had the least. In Wyoming, it was found that roads with moving traffic did not greatly affect elk activity, especially beyond 300 yards. When people engaged in out-of-vehicle activities such as camping, fishing,picnicking, and logging, however, the elk stayed at least 0.5 mile away. One study found that elk use was reduced in meadows adjacent to roads and variably reduced in open forests next to roads. In Montana, another study found that where dense cover(forest canopy closure greater than 75 percent) occurred adjacent to the road, no consistent increase in elk use was noted beyond 0.6 mile from the road. Where the vegetation was open forest, elk use virtually stabilized beyond 0.9 mile from the road. In an area without trees, elk use increased even at a distance of 1.5 miles from the road.

In Washington, west and south aspects, which were more intensively used by the elk, suffered the most reduction in use in the presence of roads. Roads on east aspects caused only minimal reductions in big game use.

GENERAL INFORMATION

MANAGEMENT - The management of elk and their habitat is not easy, because the animals range widely over large acreages of mountainous range, timber, and canyon lands. Good management of range and timber lands assures ample food on the high summergrazing areas, unless they are overgrazed with livestock. Adequate foods seldom exist in winter, however, as severe weather

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(deep snow) forces the elk to migrate to small winter ranges at lower altitudes where they usually gather together on meadows, haylands, and adjacent areas.

HUNTING - Management of healthy elk herds and their winter ranges require adequate harvest to keep each population within or slightly below the carrying capacity of the winter forage. Legal regulatory agencies annually set the hunting season and other regulations aimed at harvesting the proper numbers from the year's increase. Each owner and operator of elk-supporting land(public, private, or corporate) has a related responsibility to manage the elk numbers by adequate hunting.

EVALUATION OF ELK USE BY PELLET GROUP COUNTS - Counting elk pellet groups on randomized sample plots can quickly and easily provide information on (1) number of elk using a given area which may include a field, a seeding, a range site, an entire ranch, or other areas of concern; and (2) vegetational preferences of elk including seasons of use.

Method - Plots are circular and have a radius of 3’8” giving coverage of 1/1000 of an acre for each plot. Thus:

1 plot = 1/1000 acre

10 plots = 1/100 acre

100 plots = 1/10 acre

The numbers of pellet groups within each plot or any outside group touching the plot are counted. The numbers of groups counted are expanded to groups per acre.

Next, elk days use per acre can be computed by dividing the number of pellet groups by 13, a factor which is considered to equal a single day's use by an elk.

Example - If 10 sample plots (1/100 acre) show 10 pellet groups on one acre, then 100 x 10 groups equals 1000 total groups for the acre; 1000 groups divided by 13 (factor) = 77 days use by elk.

Randomly sample in a systematic manner (example: along a paced line of chain intervals).

plots located

Plot size is easily measured marked with the use of a cord or chain 3'8" long where one peg holds the center and another is used to mark the ground around the edge of the circle.

Many old pellet groups and few new ones may indicate a winter range.

The same pellet group count procedure works equally well for deer.

GRASSES - Plant Preference Listing for Elk Common Names

Common Name

Alkali bluegrass Alkali cordgrass Alkali muhly

Alkali sacaton

Alpine bluegrass

Alpine oat

Alpine timothy

American bulrush

American mannagrass American sloughgrass Arizona fescue

Baltic rush

Barnyard grass

Beaked sedge

Beardless bluebunch

Big bluegrass

Big galleta

Big mountain brome

Black & white sedge

Black alpine sedge

Black grama

Blackroon sedge Blowoutgrass

Blue grama

Blue wildrye

Bluejoint reedgrass Bottlebrush squirreltail Bristlegrass

Brookgrass

Buffalo grass

Bulbosa bluegrass

Bulrush

Bush muhly

California danthonia

Canada bluegrass

Canada wildrye

Canby bluegrass

Cane beardgrass

Carpet bentgrass

Cheatgrass

Common oat

Common reed

Genus and Species

Agrostis variabilis

Bromus anomalus

Carex atherodes

Carex heteroneura

Elymus simplex

Poa juncifolia

Spartina gracilis Muhlenbergia asperifolia Sporobolus airoides

Poa alpina

Helictotrichon hookeri Phleum alpinum

Scirpus americanus

Glyceria grandis

Beckmannia syzigachne

Festuca arizonica

Juncus balticus

Echinochloa crus-galli Carex rostrata

Agropyron spicatum inerme Poa ampla

Hilaria rigida

Bromus marginatus

Carex albo-nigra

Carex nigricans

Bouteloua eriopoda

Carex elynoides

Redfieldia flexuosa Bouteloua gracilis

Elymus glaucus Calamagrostis canadensis Sitanion hystrix

Setaria italica

Catabrosa aquatica

Buchloe dactyloides

Poa bulbosa

Scirpus maritimus Muhlenbergia porteri Danthonia californica

Poa compressa

ElYmus canadensis

Poa canbyi

Andropogon barbinodis Agrostis stolonifera

Bromus tectorum

Avena sativa

Phragmites australis

* Y=Year Round, S=Spring, S=Summer, F=Fall, W=winter ** H=High, M=Medium, L=Low

Data from USFS, Range Analysis Handbook, Region 11/86

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GRASSES - Plant Preference Listing for Elk Common Names

Common Name

Common witchgrass

Creeping wildrye

Crested wheatgrass

Curly mesquite

Cusick bluegrass

Douglas sedge

Dropseed

Ebony sedge

Eggleston sedge

Elk sedge

Fairway wheatgrass

False buffalograss

Fendler three-awn

Foothill brome

Fowl bluegrass

Fowl mannagrass

Foxtail barley

Foxtail brome

Fringed brome

Galleta

Giant burreed

Giant wild rye

Golden sedge

Great Basin wildrye

Green bristlegrass

Green muhly

Green needlegrass

Greenleaf fescue

Hairy bluebunch

Hairy brome

Hairygrama

Idaho fescue

Idaho redtop

Indian ricegrass

Inland saltgrass

Intermediate wheatgrass

Japanese chess

Kentucky bluegrass

Kobresia

Kobresia

Letterman needlegrass

Little bluestem

Littleseed ricegrass Longstyle rush

Mat grama

Mat muhly

Meadow barley

Meadow foxtail

Medusahead rye

Montana wheatgrass

Mountain brome

Mountain muhly

Genus and Species

Panicum capillare

ElYmus triticoides

Agropyron desertorum

Hilaria belangeri

Poa cusickii

Carex douglasii

Sporobolus heterolepis

Carex ebenea

Carex egglestonii

Carex geyeri

Agropyron cristatum

Munroa squarrosa

Aristida fendleriana

Bromus polyanthus

Poa palustris

Glyceria striata

Hordeum jubatum

Bromus rubens

Bromus ciliatus

Hilaria jamesii

Sparganium eurycarpum

Elymus condensatus

Carex aurea

ElYmus cinerus

Setaria viridis

Muhlembergia racemosa

Stipa viridula

Festuca viridula

Agropyron spicatum spicatum

Bromus commutatus

Bouteloua hirsuta

Festuca idahoensis

Agrostis idahoensis

Oryzopsis hYmenoides

Distichlis stricta

Agropyron intermedium

Bromus japonicus

Poa pratensis

Kobresia myosuroides

Kobresia sibirica

Stipa lettermanii

Schizachyrium scoparium

Oryzopsis micrantha

Juncus longistylis

Bouteloua simplex

Muhlenbergia richardsonis

Hordeum brachyantherum

Alopecurus pratensis

ElYmus caput-medusa

Agropyron albicans

Bromus carinatus

Muhlenbergia montana

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GRASSES - Plant Preference Listing for Elk Common Names

Common Name

Mutton bluegrass

Nebraska sedge

Needle and thread

Needle grama

Needlespikerush Needleleaf sedge

Nevada bluegrass

Nodding bluegrass

Northern reedgrass

Obtuse sedge

Olney bulrush

Onespike danthonia oniongrass

Orchardgrass

Ovalhead sedge

Parry danthonia

Parry rush

Perennial ryegrass

Pinegrass

Pinewoods needlegrass

Plains bluegrass

Plains reedgrass

Prairie cordgrass

Prairie junegrass

Prairie sandreed

Prairie three-awn

Pubescent wheatgrass

Pumpelly brome

Purple pinegrass

Purple three-awn

Quackgrass

Rattlesnake grass

Raynolds sedge

Red fescue

Red three-awn

Red three-awn

Redtop bentgrass

Reed canarygrass

Reed fescue

Rice cutgrass

Richardson needlegrass

Ring muhly

Ripgut brome

Rock sedge

Ross sedge

Rough bentgrass

Rough fescue

Russian wildrye

Salina wildrye

Sand bluestem

Sand dropseed

Sand lovegrass

Genus and Species

Poa fendleriana

Carex nebraskensis

Stipa comata

Bouteloua aristidoides

Eleocharis acicularis

Carex eleocharis

Poa nevadensis

Poa reflexa

Calamagrostis inexpansa

Carex obtusata

Scirpus olneyi

Danthonia unispicata

Melica bulbosa

Dactylis glomerata

Carex festivella

Danthonia parryi

Juncus parryi

Lolium perenne

Calamagrostis rubescens

Stipa pinetorum

Poa arida

Calamagrostis montanensis

Spartina pectinata

Koeleria cristata

Calamovilfa longifolia

Aristida oligantha

Agropyron trichophorum

Bromus pumpellianus

Calamagrostis purpurascens

Aristida purpurea

Agropyron repens

Bromus brizaeformis

Carex raynoldsii

Festuca rubra

Aristida longiseta longiseta

Aristida longiseta robusta

Agrostis alba

Phalaris arundinacea

Festuca arundinacea

Leersia oryzoides

Stipa richardsonii

Muhlenbergia torreyi

Bromus rigidus

Carex rupestris

Carex rossii

Agrostis scabra

Festuca scabrella

ElYmus junceus

ElYmus ambiguus

Andropogon hallii

Sporobolus cryptandrus

Eragrostis trichodes

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GRASSES - Plant Preference Listing for Elk Common Names

CommonName

Sandburg bluegrass

Sandhill muhly

Sandhills muhly

Scribner needlegrass

Scribner wheatgrass

Sheep fescue

Short stemmed sedge

Showy oniongrass

Sideoats grama

Silver sedge

Sixweeks fescue

Sixweeks grama

Slender wheatgrass

Smallwing sedge

Smooth brome

Smoothfruit sedge

Soft chess

Softstem bulrush

Sorghum sudangrass

Spike bentgrass

Spike drop seed

Spike trisetum

Spikerush

Stinkgrass

Streambank wheatgrass

Subalpine needlegrass

Sun sedge switchgrass

Tall oatgrass

Tall wheatgrass

Tanglehead

Thickspike wheatgrass

Thurber fescue

Thurber needlegrass

Timber danthonia

Timothy

Tolmie sedge

Treadhead sedge

Tufted hairgrass

Tule bulrush

Water sedge

Western needlegrass

Wheeler bluegrass

Wildoat

Winter rye

Wood bluegrass

Wooly sedge

Yellow Indiangrass

Yellow bristlegrass

Sandbur

Western wheatgrass

Genus and Species

Poa secunda (sandbergii) Muhlenbergia pungens

Muhlenbergia cuspidata

Stipa scribneri

Agropyron scribneri

Festuca ovina

Carex brevipes

Melica spectabilis

Bouteloua curtipendula

Carex praegracilis

Vulpia octoflora

Bouteloua barbata

Agropyron trachycaulum

Carex microptera

Bromus inermis

Carex epapillosa

Bromus mollis

Scirpus validus

Sorghum vulgare

Agrostis exarata

Sporobolus contractus

Trisetum spicatum

Eleocharis palustris

Eragrostis cilianensis

Agropyron riparium

Stipa columbiana

Carex heliophila

Panicum virgatum

Arrhenatherum elatius

Agropyron elongatum

Heteropogon contortus

Agropyron dasystachyum

Festuca thurberi

Stipa thurberiana

Danthonia intermedia

Phleum pratense

Carex tolmiei

Carex filifolia

Deschampsia caespitosa

Scirpus acutus

Carex aquatilis

Stipa occidentalis

Poa nervosa

Avena fatua

Secale cereale

Poa nemoralis

Carex lanuginosa

Sorghastrum nutans