Spring in the Elk Refuge

by James Morrissey

The Elk Refuge was created by an act of congress in 1912 to help provide a wintering home for elk living in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park areas. It is the only elk management facility operated by the National Park Service. The Elk Refuge consists of about 25,000 acres just outside of Jackson Hole Wyoming near the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

This was necessary at the time because of the seriously dwindled population of elk. Elk had disappeared from about 90% of their original range by 1900. Currently, the Elk Refuge gives a wintering home to an average of about 7,500 elk each winter. Elk live in the refuge for abut 6 months each year - making their pilgrimage from the parks to the Refuge in November. There they are able to eat a variety of native grasses. When there are periods of severe food shortage, the park staff provide feed to help insure that the elk are able to survive. They make their way back to the Parks in April.

In addition to the elk that winter there, the refuge also supports a variety of other indiginous wildlife including wild birds, moose, coyotes and big horn sheep. The elk reserve is teeming with life throughout the winter and early spring. My wife and I spent three days in Jackson and visited the refuge daily. To help conserve the habitat, most of the refuge access is limited during the winter months. There is one road, aptly named the Elk Refuge Road, that opens off of Broadway in Jackson on the East side of the town. It is free to all visitors, though you are not allowed to leave the road. The area is mostly used by the residents of Jackson as a place to walk and exercise. This is where we had the clearest view of mountain sheep and of elk late in the day. The only other access into the park is through the museum. They provide sleigh rides in a joint venture between the Jackson Hole Museum, the Federal Government, and a private corporation that provides shuttle service from the Museum to the Refuge. Once their, visitors are taken by horse and sleigh through the reserve.

The cost to visitors is $15.00 per person for about 45 minutes in the refuge. The elk mostly ignore the sleigh rides which are allowed amazingly close to the elk. It makes photography almost unfair as the elk are quite content to allow you to photograph them. As you are in a large sleigh, you are a provided a safe but intimate distance from the wildlife. It is a great way to view the wintering animals as well as to support the refuge as a portion of the fare goes to supporting the reserve.

During the early Spring, the elk begin to shed their antlers. The largest bulls normally begin to shed their antlers in early March. The younger bulls begin to lose their antlers in April. The amazing thing about the the elk's antlers is that once they have fallen, the elk almost immediately begins to grow a new set of antlers. By August, the elk have fully regrown their entire rack of antlers. At the time that Chanthee and I visited the park, about 1/2 of the bulls had lost their antlers.

While antlers littered the ground, removing them from the Refuge - or any of the National Parks - is strictly prohibited. Every April, the Boy Scouts comb the Refuge to pick up the antlers. The antlers are very valuable - with them auctioning off for as much as 10 dollars a pound and retailing to visitors at a much higher rate. The antlers of an adult Elk may weigh as much as forty pounds. The proceeds are split between the Refuge and the Boy Scouts. This is the primary way that the refuge is able to fund itself.

While there, we also witnessed a wide range of other wildlife. Moose were abundant with at least 4 adults and a baby living within about a 2 mile radius of each other. During the summer months, the moose are much more reclusive until the males begin to seek out mates late in the summer. At the time of our visit, all of the males had lost their antlers. The moose is the first of the ungulates (Read more about moose and other ungulates in their section on the front page) to lose their antlers each year - usually in early November.

The Big Horn sheep were among the most interesting groups of animals that we were able to view during our trip. In 9 years of passing the Refuge, we had never seen a herd of Big Horn Sheep there. Apparently they are common to the mountainous side in the Eastern section of the refuge. Watching the Big Horn's climb on the mountainous areas on seemingly non-existant ledges was absolutely amazing.

Birds are abundant in the parks at all times of the year. We had the chance to follow two Eagles in the Refuge - one Golden Eagle on the Eastern section of the Park going down the Gros Ventre Road towards Kelly. The Bald Eagle was hunting in the North Western part of the Refuge. I am not normally a birder, not having some of the super long tele lenses that are often required. I often am amazed by some of the great bird photography pictures I see in the forums. This is my first real try at photographing birds. I made several attempts at following the birds from a discreet distance. Using a tripod was necessary for me in order to get sharp images of the birds. The camera was set to AI Servo (Focus Tracking) set to manual. A 2x converter was used with the 70-200 F2.8 lens set to a minimum aperture of F11 (as I find that it is necessary to stop down about two stops in order to get sharp images with the converter).

This was apparently a very light winter in the refuge. Most of the elk and other animals were in excellent shape. Their had apparntly been very little snow this year in the Jackson area, and indeed many of the photographs show large patches of land that is visible between snowy patches. However, the night we arrived, it snowed 8 inches and we had flurries every day that we were in Jackson.

One of the great thing about the Elk Refuge is its proximity to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. While I did not have time to go up to Yellowstone, I did go as far as within 3 miles of the South Gate enterance. Of course, snow is much deeper the further you go. By the time we got close to the park, the snow was well over four feet deep off of the main road. However, even this is tiny compared to most years. I have seen as much as 8 feet of snow in the mountains as late as Mid-May.

As busy as the Grand Tetons are during the summer - filled with wildlife and people - it was virtually empty. There was reportedly a lone bison that appeared to be hanging out by Cunningham Cabin. The two coyotes shown below were hunting. Unfortunately, the cloud cover was so heavy during the time that we were there that pictures of the Tetons was virtually impossible. Normally, I also like to photograph out by Oxbow Bend (where many of Mt. Moran's finest pictures are often taken). That also was a no-go due to the weather conditions.

If you have not visited Jackson in the early spring, it might be worth the visit. The park has very few visitors and the skiing is still reportedly great (though I did not have a chance to go). It was surprisingly warm with temperatures ranging between 12 degrees Fahrenheit at night and 40 degrees during the day. Rates for lodging are very affordable. My wife and I stayed in a top flight bed in breakfast inside town for about 80 dollars a night - including a spectacular breakfast.

A little about the photographs. Each picture was taken with a Canon 20d digital SLR. Most of the shots were taken with the 70-200 F2.8 with 2x converter. It was very bright and most of the images were taken at ISO 400 or lower. As I wound up leaving my monopod at home (the cheapest form of Image Stabilization on earth), most of the pictures were hand-held - normally against an object by which I was able to steady myself. I used a tripod for all other images. I processed the images with Capture One SE v3.6. I used Photoshop in order to tweek the files. I had to do a lot of work to keep the highlights from blowing (see the article below on Preserving Highlights). The image of the two elk sparring on the front page was taken by my wife - also with a Canon 20d.