Came back from lunch yesterday and these guys were mowing my lawn.

 

So, what's the local concensus on the population? Around Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, the deer population is pretty high. (Yes; I realize the deer in Ohio are just a bit different than those in your pics.) Guessing the ones in your pics just wandered onto the campus to find some fresh grass?

 

These are elk. At full grown size they are 3 times the size of deer. There are several herds within a mile of town. They are usually laying on the airport runway and eating all the grass there. We get them up here usually once a month. But this is the first time in 18 years they have been that many in the daytime for that long. There is a season on them. 3 point or better. Years ago you could shoot spikes but the population got low so now they are flourishing once again.

 

Those are babies for sure. I miss seeing them in the orchard in the back yard.

 

Just wondering...is that any sign of a significant weather event? I consider animals much more proficient than humans in that regard.

 

Deej, Are those Roosevelts?

 

Choot one and overnight it to me.

 

Yes they are. West of the Cascades

 

It is nice to see a big herd like that. We have the Rocky Mountain Elk here in Idaho. But their numbers are dwindling also. Last year they reduced the hunting season to 2 weeks and Bulls only. Many disagree but I believe it is due to the Wolf population. Idaho introduced the Artic Wolf some time ago and now they are getting out of hand. Idaho has a wolf hunting and trapping season. Hopefully this will help. To help me make my point, Idaho increased the Wolf limit from 2 per person to FIVE for this year. Although the harvest is about 85 less than it was last year. I think it is due to less Elk hunters out there than the previous years. A lot of Elk hunter also buy Wolf tags….Where there’s Elk, there is Wolves.