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October 14, 2004
7 elk rescued from mud
MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks
State and federal wildlife officials freed seven elk Sept. 22 that had become mired in mud in Fort Peck Reservoir at the mouth of the Musselshell River.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens and employees of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge lassoed the animals and pulled them out using three four-wheelers in tandem. One elk died in the rescue attempt.
The rescue took place about a mile north of Crooked Creek fishing access site.
"Crooked Creek Bay is 30 to 40 feet deep of silt," said Mike Hedrick, CMR manager.
"When the water is down like now, a crust forms on top of the silt," Hedrick said. "If anything falls through the crust it's in this saturated bog, which has no bottom."
The episode started the afternoon of Sept. 21 when a hunter called the FWP hotline at 1-800-TIPMONT about 11 elk stuck in the mud. The call was routed to the CMR refuge.
"We couldn't get a pickup within 500 yards of them," said Jody Jones, CMR refuge officer, who located the animals that evening.
The animals had struggled so their bellies were buried in the muck. When the rescue crew arrived the next morning, four elk had freed themselves, but the remaining seven were exhausted. They had been stuck nearly 48 hours.
"I took my rifle with me because it didn't look good," said FWP game warden Shane Brozovich.
To reach the elk, Jones and Ben Pratt of the CMR had to crawl 400 feet through mud.
"Those guys had to slide on their bellies to get out to the elk," said FWP game warden Bob Barber. "They couldn't stand up cause they would sink."
Jones and Pratt would put a rope around an elk's neck. Then the four-wheelers dragged the animal 300 to 400 yards. At that point, the drivers ran back to the elk and removed the rope. Jones and Pratt returned for the rope and slithered through the mud again - seven times in all.
"If it was 10 degrees colder," Jones said, "I don't think we could have made it. We were shivering when we were done."
Also assisting the three-hour effort was Dan Harrell and Bob Skinner of the CMR.
The herd consisted of five cows, one spike bull and a small 5x5 bull, which died in the drag attempt.
"When we first got there," Barber said, "we thought this is going to be a try and fail. But we thought we have got to at least make an effort. In the end, we felt very happy about the result."
Added Jones: "It was a good joint effort."
7 elk rescued from mud
MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks
State and federal wildlife officials freed seven elk Sept. 22 that had become mired in mud in Fort Peck Reservoir at the mouth of the Musselshell River.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens and employees of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge lassoed the animals and pulled them out using three four-wheelers in tandem. One elk died in the rescue attempt.
The rescue took place about a mile north of Crooked Creek fishing access site.
"Crooked Creek Bay is 30 to 40 feet deep of silt," said Mike Hedrick, CMR manager.
"When the water is down like now, a crust forms on top of the silt," Hedrick said. "If anything falls through the crust it's in this saturated bog, which has no bottom."
The episode started the afternoon of Sept. 21 when a hunter called the FWP hotline at 1-800-TIPMONT about 11 elk stuck in the mud. The call was routed to the CMR refuge.
"We couldn't get a pickup within 500 yards of them," said Jody Jones, CMR refuge officer, who located the animals that evening.
The animals had struggled so their bellies were buried in the muck. When the rescue crew arrived the next morning, four elk had freed themselves, but the remaining seven were exhausted. They had been stuck nearly 48 hours.
"I took my rifle with me because it didn't look good," said FWP game warden Shane Brozovich.
To reach the elk, Jones and Ben Pratt of the CMR had to crawl 400 feet through mud.
"Those guys had to slide on their bellies to get out to the elk," said FWP game warden Bob Barber. "They couldn't stand up cause they would sink."
Jones and Pratt would put a rope around an elk's neck. Then the four-wheelers dragged the animal 300 to 400 yards. At that point, the drivers ran back to the elk and removed the rope. Jones and Pratt returned for the rope and slithered through the mud again - seven times in all.
"If it was 10 degrees colder," Jones said, "I don't think we could have made it. We were shivering when we were done."
Also assisting the three-hour effort was Dan Harrell and Bob Skinner of the CMR.
The herd consisted of five cows, one spike bull and a small 5x5 bull, which died in the drag attempt.
"When we first got there," Barber said, "we thought this is going to be a try and fail. But we thought we have got to at least make an effort. In the end, we felt very happy about the result."
Added Jones: "It was a good joint effort."
