King’s Outdoor World Blog

17 Comments Add your own

• 1. Alberta-wes  |  October 14th, 2006 at 5:14 pm

  These fellas on the above link, touch on alot of subjects. They seem to be looking quite vulnerable on a few things. I have a lot of questions. Looks like a load of crap to me, and I have seen dum-dums do a better job at my front door holding a vacuum cleaner. But I guess, if it helps them feel justified……

• 2. Idaho Girl  |  October 15th, 2006 at 9:22 pm

  The elk ranchers intended for this site to inform the public of the truth of elk ranches in Idaho. I believe they did an excellent job of stating facts. The press along with F & G have falsley reported many of these issues to the public in the past few months and have offered no appology for doing so. Cowards I say! There are people who have these false statements branded so deeply within their brain that there is no way anyone can change their mind. These people disgust me, in that when they hear the truth they just can’t accept that what they believe just may not be truthful. Idaho Elk Ranchers are fighting for their livelihood right now and I will stand proud and fight right along with them.

• 3. Majestic Hunter  |  October 19th, 2006 at 3:12 pm

  I am sorry guys but I agree with Alberta-wes. I love to hunt elk as it is one of my true passions in life. However, I don’t have to always kill one. I just love watching them run and play and do all the things they do in the wild. I really and truely believe having domestic elk ranches is a bad thing. I could see if the elk were becoming extinct but let them run wild and be free. It really gets me mad when I hear these guys selling the horns to people over seas for money to make different kinds of drugs. Let the animal live in the wild and be wild…don’t cage them up. They are too precious to be cooped up in a fence. I know these guys make a living at this but come on. There are other ways of making a living.

  They talk about access for handicapped and the older generation making it easier to hunt elk…bull crap. That is why the govt has special season’s and dates for these folks to enjoy hunting. To much is said about making a buck…let the animals run wild…fair chase…being cooped up in a fence is not fair chase. I don’t care what any one says. A fence is a fence and is designed to keep something in. It is not natural.

• 4. Idaho Girl  |  October 24th, 2006 at 6:32 pm

  Just so you know the government are the ones who gave these elk to ranchers. Yellowstone was over populated with elk in the 1930’s and they made it a free for all. Just a comment.

• 5. steve a.  |  October 24th, 2006 at 8:47 pm

  it does not matter if its made of gold a cage is still a cage

• 6. Alberta-wes  |  October 29th, 2006 at 3:48 pm

  For Idaho Girl.
  In comment #2, you are all for game ranching, and claim that people have serious misconceptions about said activity. Just a quote of your own. Comment #36, under, 160 Domestic Elk Escaped Into Wild. ” Yes there is potential for domestic game ranches to spread disease. ” I guess you are probuably right in comment #2 here though, cause Im just not sure you will be changing my mind.

• 7. Chuck Feney  |  November 11th, 2006 at 2:30 pm

  I have no problem with the raising of captive elk for the venison market. There is a high resteraunt demand for quality product. Double fences with regular inspections should keep these venison elk seperate from the wild stock. But the caged hunting aspect is a travesty and must be abolished. Raise the elk for slaughter and butcher them in a humane fashion.

• 8. Dan  |  November 12th, 2006 at 10:17 am

  As an Ariz hunter, let me provide a different perspective on elk preserves. I am for them if that is what you choose to do. Let me explain. Since drawing a coveted bull tag in AZ via the lottery is nearly impossible (I have been drawn once in the last eight years), you never get the opportunity to hunt. I love to hunt. This past year, I worked hard and put in long hours to save money to hunt at a ranch. I researched the ranch by interviewing other hunters, searching the web and obtaining personal testimonies from other hunters. The ranch was 5000 acres with lots of cover and provided a challening hunt. It was not easy. It provided an experience I might never get waiting for my tag. Yes, I have killed three elk via public lands fair chase hunting, so I didn’t go just to shoot a trophy. I went to experience a quality hunt and enjoy something I truly love. If it weren’t challenging, I to would say close the elk preserves down. I know some ranches probably cater to a specific hunter, but if done right, it can be just as challenging as a public lands hunt. I would go again.

• 9. NJgirl  |  December 27th, 2006 at 9:23 am

  I must admit to sudden unhappiness. I am NRA certified and a hunting instructor but have not picked up a gun in years due to crippling arthritis in my hands.

  My husband gave me a long sought gift of an ‘Elk Hunt” for my birthday in December. Right away I started to seek out topographical maps of the area, historical weather data and information on the best way to prepare for this experience.

  In the process I came upon this blog and am now disheartened that it is actually a high fenced hunt. Prior to this time I did not know the history of these type of businesses. Now the dilemma, how to tell my husband that it would be like shooting our pet.

• 10. Paul  |  January 22nd, 2007 at 8:49 pm

  Well, I have to agree with Dan (#8) in that I too have “paid my dues” if you will. I am no longer a young man and have enough unfilled tags to paper a wall with and at this point in my life I feel it`s time. In my 38 years of hunting I have 3 elk to my credit but none above 300 pts. Fact is, I feel I`m a pretty fair hunter and an above average shot but I`ve not been in the right place at the right time. I`ve been on several trips with buddies and large bulls were taken but it`s never happened for me. God only gives us X amount of time here and I willl have absolutly NO problem totally enjoying the “fenced” hunt that I just booked. I`ve earned it.

• 11. jim  |  January 24th, 2007 at 12:26 pm

  Some might find it interesting that a couple of hunting organizations have gotten in bed with HSUS. http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/?p=1540

  The Oregon Hunters Association, along with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, has teamed up with HSUS to put an end to elk farming there.

  It would seem to me to be the preverbal slippery slope. Joining up with HSUS regardless of the adgenda is a mistake in that their ultimate adgenda is elimnating all hunting period.

• 12. jole  |  February 26th, 2007 at 5:49 pm

  My in-laws run an elk ranch and i must say you people who are against these domestic elk operations are quite jelious. Just because you dont have the money or time to hunt on one doesn’t mean you have to put the people down who can afford it. You put them down, you call them lazy, you act like your better than those who hunt on these ranches. If you’ve never done it how can you say these things? Most of these elk ranches have very steep terain, and are very hard to hunt!!

• 13. Idaho Boy  |  May 4th, 2007 at 11:25 pm

  to me this seems simple, If you dont like the idea of hunting behind a fence, dont do it. The term fair chase was coined by the HSUS- (an anti hunting group) in 1996 in an effort to shut down bear hunting in Idaho. This is the divide and conquer method for anti hunting organizations. Hunters need to stick to their own ethics and not bicker amongst each other or it will surely put an end to all hunting. Also, the disease issue is a farce, do your homework.

• 14. Idaho Boy  |  May 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am

  Rich in comment #7- Is butchering an elk in a humane fashion hitting it in the head with a hammer in a slaughterhouse? Do you think it might be more humane for the animal to die in it’s natural habitat?

• 15. Clint  |  December 27th, 2007 at 3:55 pm

  Hi all,

  I’m a Montana native from a rural farming and ranching community as well as an avid outdoorsman. Therefore I feel that I can provide some perspective on this difficult issue.

  We are all blessed to live in a free society with many freedoms. Not the least of which is our right to own and govern our private property. Unfortunately, there are some instances where our actions on our own property have the potential to negatively impact many people and the environment beyond our private boundaries. High fence game farms are an excellent example of this. I call them game farms and not preserves because these are typically for-profit business operations that are not created for the purpose of preserving native wildlife populations or habitat.

  A properly managed livestock operation poses little or no threat to the livelihoods of people or the environment beyond the borders of said operation. This is not the case with game farms because they:

  1. Have the potential to spread disease to native elk populations.
  2. Have the potential to contaminate the genetic purity of native elk populations where European red deer genes have been introduced to captive elk herds to increase antler scores.

  The arguments posed at www.thetruthaboutelk.org (it should be www.thehalftruthaboutelk.org) are weak at best for the following reasons:

  I know of one example near Phillipsburg Montana where captive elk in a high-fence farm tested positive for chronic wasting disease and were exterminated by government personnel. I would assume that this isn’t the first time or the last time that this has happened. It is also foolish to assume that all high-fence operations would fully comply with government testing or that the government could detect every single infected animal in every single operation every single year. Come on it’s the government.

  I also know of one instance in Idaho and one in Montana where game farm elk escaped. Had these animals been diseased or contaminated with red deer genes they could have infected wild elk populations on a very large scale due to their close proximity to the Greater Yellowstone and Bitterroot elk herds. Again, given the cost for a high-fence operation to adhere to all government regulations, it is reasonable to assume that not all operations will comply fully. This was the case with the Big Velvet Ranch near Darby Montana who illegally failed to comply with government regulations on numerous occasions. Because big antlers result in big profit, how can we be confident that all operations will comply with the law and not hybridize their elk with red deer or spend the time and money disease testing their herds?

  I realize that most owners of high-fence operations are good people who comply with the law. However, history has proven that captive animals have become diseased, animals can and do escape (wildfire burns down fences), and some greedy individuals sidestep the law to make a buck.

  These are some of the reasons that the citizens of Montana have enacted legislation to prevent the transfer of existing game farm operating permits and the issuance of new permits. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has also denounced game farms for these and other reasons. The bottom line is that even with legislation in place, captive elk pose a real and serious threat to our native elk herds and our hunting heritage. Unlike many countries across the world, in the United States we are blessed in that wildlife (including elk herds) belongs to all citizens. It is intolerable that the financial exploits of the few threaten the wild herds that belong to all Americans. A threat to our wild elk herds is a threat to our values, culture, and hunting heritage.

• 16. Upstate NY Disabled Veteran  |  January 13th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

  This is a complex subject that has support on both sides of this issue. I have hunted “fair chase” in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Minnesota, etc however this was before my ailments reached the degree they are at now. At 62 with numerous ailments I am not able to get around well enough to hunt elk. I have NOT hunted in a preserve although I have given it some thought. I disagree with the response from #3 concerning the government seasons for the disabled. In NY in order to qualify for the use of a crossbow one needs to be confined to a wheelchair. NYS bowhunters fought against their use as they do not regard crossbows as bows. Well compounds are NOT exactly longbows or recurves either. What i’m getting at is that SOME of the older hunters cannot participate and ENJOY elk hunting and these places do offer these seniors/disabled hunters a choice. At this time I have not decided whether or not to utilize their service.
  If anyone reading this has any information making it possible for me to hunt elk I would appreciate the help. Besides
  back and hip joint problems, I have severe shortness of breath from workplace exposure to ammonia and asbestos making it difficult to breath while walking even on a slight incline.

  Thanks,
  EJB

• 17. Paul Coffman  |  June 30th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

  One of the great things about living in a free country is the diversity of life styles we are allowed. I may not really like what you do, the way you hunt or the way you fish, but I have no right to interfere.

  I would not shoot a lion for the sport of it, but I would not try to prevent you from doing so if you wished.
  Last year we took a white tail and an elk on a game ranch and plan to get another elk this fall.
  I am 82 years old and have two artificial knees, torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders, and severe arthrites.
  I still love to hunt and do so, altho at a slower pace.

  At the price I pay, I put prime meat in the freezer and feed my family and friends at less than rhe cost of store bought meat.

  In the process of all this, everyone involved earns a living, pays taxes, and contributes to the community.
  What’s the problem?

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