Elk
Late September finds the bulls with gleaming antlers, swollen
necks and short-tempers. Elk are polygamous, and once the mating
season arrives, bulls assemble females, or cows, into harems. A
harem contains as many cows as a bull can successfully defend
from competing bulls.
Bull elk use a high-pitched, flute-like call, or bugle, to
attract cows and to announce their willingness to defend their
cows and breeding territory against competing males. The fall
mating season is the only time males and females are commonly
found together.
In Oklahoma, the largest free-ranging elk herds can be found on
the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, as well as at Pushmataha,
Cookson Hills, Spavinaw and Cherokee wildlife management areas.
Small herds also inhabit private land in Kiowa, Comanche and
Caddo counties.
Because their natural predators have largely disappeared,
unmanaged elk may overpopulate their available range, causing
habitat degradation. In 1966, the Wildlife Department and the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service reached a cooperative
agreement that provided for an annual controlled hunt to manage
elk populations at the Wichita Mountains NWR. Since then, the
agreement has proven instrumental in controlling herd numbers
while allowing a few fortunate hunters, selected through an
annual drawing conducted by the Wildlife Department, the
opportunity to pursue the American elk in its native habitat.
Elk Hunting Information