ment near Camp Creek, along the north shore of Bull Lake, 

 along lower Stanley Creek and on Moiont Vernon. During the 

 winter months, 12 of the 15 observations were recorded. 



Ninety-eight percent of all recorded winter moose sign 

 was noted in the TSHE or THPL series while slightly more 

 than half of all winter moose sign was noted below 910 m 

 (3,000 feet) (Table 2). Stanley Creek was the only portion 

 of the study area which appeared to be used exclusively by 

 moose during the winter months. Moose ranged from Stanley 

 Creek on to the south face of Keeler Mountain, which they 

 shared with elk. A significant omission on the KNF winter 

 range map (Figure 6) is the Stanley Creek drainage which 

 is heavily used by moose. This oversight may be due to the 

 criteria established by the KNF which do not consider moder- 

 ate elevations, north aspects or snow depths that moose are 

 able to utilize. In delineating ungulate winter range, 

 field reconnaissance is essential. 



Elk 



Historically elk were widely distributed throughout 

 Montana but with settlement of the state, herds are increas- 

 ingly limited to the mountains of western Montana (Rognrud 

 and Janson 19 71) . During the report period 19 5 elk observa- 

 tions werp recorded on the study area (Appendix 8 and 

 Figure 8) . 



During April and May elk were observed in the Stanley 

 Creek drainage and on Keeler Mountain and with two exceptions 

 from June through October, elk were observed in the high ele- 

 vation basins in the Ross Creek drainage. From January 

 through March, elk were again observed on the Camp Creek 

 floodplain, near Bull Lake and on Keeler Mountain. All elk 

 observed during the April through July 19 78 period were seen 

 in Ross Creek. During the summer one elk each was observed 

 on Stanley Mountain and on the Camp Creek flats near the 

 site of the proposed tailing pond. During April elk sign 

 was noted along Stanley Creek and in May elk were observed 

 moving up this drainage. Elk calving areas were not noted 

 on the area although Stearns-Roger (1975) indicate that pos- 

 sible calving areas occur on the west face of Stanley Moun- 

 tain, along Stanley Creek, along upper Ross Creek or on the 

 south slope of Mount Vernon. 



Sex and age classification of the 195 elk observations 

 and the environmental parameters at the sites at which they 

 were observed are presented in Table 3 and Appendices 2 

 through 6. Review of the data concerning each environmental 

 parameter will familiarize the reader with the nature of the 

 terrain in which elk were observed on a seasonal basis. 



19 



