THE OTHER SIDE OF THE 
ELK QUESTION 
EDITORIAL NOTE: 
For several years sportsmen and na- 
ture lovers of Washington have been 
more or less in a state of agitation 
over the elk situation on the Olympic 
Peninsula. 
Numerous statements have been made 
by government forestry men and others 
to the effect that certain districts have 
become overstocked and that many 
cows and calves are dying of starva- 
tion. An endeavor is being made by 
some to have a law passed permitting 
a limited number of bulls to be killed 
each year, the licenses to be drawn by 
lottery. This latter suggestion is too 
ludicrous to be commented on. By law 
the elk are protected until 1925. 
Conservators of the state are doing 
all they can to offset this propaganda 
and urge a second closed season after 
the present lawrunsout. The following 
article was written by a nature lover, 
who has spent his entire lifetime on 
the Coldwater River and knows his 
own watershed like a book. 
Other views on the situation.will be 
printed in the near future. 
——_____ 
hee we kill them to save 
them?” Such, it would seem, is 
the question put with regard to the 
Olympic Elk. And since the question 
has been raised that the elk of the 
Olympic Peninsula are on the eve of 
extermination by starvation, it becomes 
necessary that the people of the State 
of Washington acquaint themselves 
with the facts, lest irreparable damage 
be done and the state lose one of its 
finest natural assets. 
Having lived for twenty-five years in 
the Queets country (which district is 
stated to be overstocked at this time), 
I can state positively that this is not a 
fact, but that quite the reverse is true. 
The elk of the Queets, Clearwater and 
Kalalock watersheds are more evenly 
distributed than on any other range of 
the west side and in this year of our 
Lord, one thousand nine hundred and 
twenty-three, it may be said that they 
are getting back to normal or to a point 
where they were some twenty-five years 
ago. 
It is safe to say that there is an 
abundance of feed in the west side 
watersheds with the exception of a 
small portion of the upper Hoh, where 
elk have ranged se closely as practi- 
cally to have killed out all brouse; 
though below here, and for fifteen miles 
to the coast, the range is practically 
untouched and elk seldom seen. 
In fact, this strip of coastal range, 
5 to 20 miles in width, extends through 
Page 29 
the elk country, “which has been classed 
as overstocked,” from the Moclips to 
the Quilliaute. This strip embraces the 
finest winter range to be found and is 
free from snow. 
The elk of the Clearwater are now 
ranging back in this strip and without 
molestation will remain there, the tar- 
get for tourist kodaks on the comple- 
tion of the last link of the Olympic 
Highway. 
EVER have I found elk dead of 
starvation, though no doubt during 
severe winters some die; both the very 
old and the young. Elk calves have 
many enemies and while the cat and 
cougar claim not a few, bruin has his 
share. Ordinarily, I do not believe bear 
bother elk calves, but now and again 
some old sage of the hills, having 
learned all there is to learn in beardom 
“from the flipping of a Royal Chinook 
from the spawning grounds in the creek 
to the robbing of a bee tree,” just nat- 
urally stumbles on to the easiest, yet 
when along the latter part of June he 
literally steps on a baby elk, bringing 
a realization of dainty morsels he has 
somehow missed before. 
Nature has provided a wonderful pro- 
tection for elk young, helpless as they 
are, not only in the color scheme, blend- 
ing as it does with nature so perfectly 
as to deceive the most careful scrutiny, 
but in the scent as well. Mother elk 
give off a very strong musky odor and 
during the several days the calf re- 
mains bedded till he has strength to 
join and follow the herd, the place 
chosen by the shy and careful mother in 
some secluded quiet nook becomes filled 
with this scent. So much so in fact that 
when a cow startled from the bedding 
ground rushes away with never a look 
at her offspring, a dog inexperienced 
will literally or actually jump over the 
bedded calf, following the strong scent 
of the mother. In fact, this works out 
so nicely that many hunters have said 
a calf gives off no scent. 
Y:QUNG calves are easily caught and 
with little coaxing will follow one 
home, but when from ten to twenty 
days old can give you a merry time and 
put up a real fight. I once saw five 
calves at play startled by a dog, when 
they immediately dropped to the ground 
as if shot and lay flat. On walking 
over to them, I was able to stroke three 
from one position while the other two 
were barely out of reach. 
An elk is a wonderful animal and 
ours of the Olympic Peninsula are at 
this time what might be said to be semi- 
domestic; at any rate, they are not so 
wild as some of our domestic cattle, so 
why should a select few be permitted to 
go in and shoot, cripple and kill our 
last big game, leaving many to die mis- 
erably while the rest are driven back 
and made wild? 
In traveling the trails of the Queets 
and Clearwater or in canoeing these 
streams, it is not uncommon to see forty 
or fifty elk, a sight which is enjoyed 
immensely by women and children mak- 
ing this trip. And during September 
of this year it was possible to hear the 
musical whistle of the bulls from the 
Clearwater School for days at a time. 
A few would-be sports turned loose 
here and conditions would quickly 
change; elk hunting with a kodak would 
be a hardship rather than a pleasure 
and hardly possible. 
Should there come a time when the 
range is overstocked, it would be an 
easy matter to have the wardens of our 
game department arrange selective kill- 
ing not only of surplus bulls but cows 
as well, when it was found impracti- 
cable to take care of a surplus by tak- 
ing calves for parks or other districts 
for stocking purposes. 
In selective killing of elk, great care 
should be taken never to shoot into a 
herd, but a time picked when herds are 
split up and the required number taken 
apart from the main herd. 
O assist in this, a man familiar 
with game and game conditions 
could be selected from each water- 
shed and in this way a commission 
formed and data collected and compared 
from each district. This could be done 
at very little expense as these could 
serve without salary except when ac- 
tually on the job a short time each year. 
Each member of such an elk protective 
commission should be required to fur- 
nish a good and sufficient bond of not 
less than $1,500.00, also all guides in 
this district should furnish a bond of 
like amount. The meat from selective 
killing should all be saved and placed 
on the market. This could be easily 
done by jerking and smoking a great 
portion, or all that is suitable, while the 
remainder could be canned and labeled 
by the commission. 
For canning, a small portable outfit 
could be used and much meat saved 
which would otherwise be wasted. 
Should there be a surplus of funds 
from the sale of elk meat, it could be 
used for trail building in the elk coun- 
try. The time for selective killing is 
not yet here, however, and the elk as a 
tourist asset is appreciated by but few. 
Civilization is relentless, irresistible, 
and the elk will be forced back to 
Olympic National Park, and we that 
love them wonder why one of God’s 
most noble creatures should appeal to 
some more as a shattered carcas, torn 
and bleeding by _ soft-nosed, high- 
powdered bullets, rather than the trim, 
powerful, beautiful creature he is to- 
day. Gro. H. NORTHRUP. 
