More elk roaming rugged areas

Preliminary results of aerial survey show the population of the stat’s elk herd is again on the rise.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists took to the skies in early March to evaluate the status of Arkansas’s elk herd.

Wes Wright, elk program coordinator for Game and Fish, said the initial tally of elk during the surveys was 419, which is about a 5% increase from last year.

“This is the first time in five years that we’ve seen an increase,” Wright said. “There are likely a few more elk than that, but we base our decisions on trends in the minimum number of elk observed, which is what we are gathering in these surveys.”

Game and Fish biologists have conducted aerial surveys for elk since 1991.

Elk tend to form large herds that are concentrated on specific habitat types during the late winter. This habit and their large size makes them easier to spot, offering counts much closer to the actual population size than can be performed for other species, such as whitetailed deer.

Wright said the upturn is welcome news after five years of decreases following measures taken with elk management following the detection of chronic wasting disease in the herd.

In addition to the number of elk seen, biologists are evaluating the ratios of bullto-cow elk and calves per cow seen.

“Historically, we see about 40 bulls per 100 cows and about the same ratio of calves to cows,” Wright said. “One calf per two adult cows is pretty typical of other states with elk populations.”

Wright said Arkansas’s bull-to-cow ratio falls a bit higher than many Western states that are traditionally known for elk hunting.

A helicopter is still the preferred survey tool in the rugged areas of Arkansas elk country.

“That’s one of the objectives of the elk program, to provide a quality hunting experience,” Wright said. “Everyone wants to harvest a bull, and with the very limited draws and quotas we have in place, we’re able to regulate harvest very tightly to give hunters who draw a bull tag a very good chance at their bull on the limited amount of land available in our elk range.”