Not all Concord Weapon Station Elk got moved

[Kentuck]

I think it was a year ago that DFG and the RMEF moved the Tule Elk off the Naval Weapons Station up to Cache Creek. I live nearby and always enjoyed seeing the elk and during the rut, hearing their bugles. Well, this morning I get on Hwy 4 at Willow Pass Road and after you get on 4 if you look to the right you can see a water canal and then the old Naval base housing. What do I see walking in the canal? A BIG bull elk. I couldn't believe it. I go the next exit and go back to the end of the road that goes near there and to a construction site that overlooks the canal. Sure enough, there is a huge bull elk in the canal. At least a 7X7 and a great sized rack. I took a pic with my cell phone and notice a guy up the hill on his phone. I go up to him and he is trying to contact someone. I left that to him and as I turn around a Water District truck is pulling up next to the elk. Of course the elk decided to go away. I yelled at the guys to see if they were calling DFG or someone and they said yes and were going to try and get the elk out of the canal. They had a big work truck with a boom on it. Unfortunately I didn't have time to watch as I was already running late to work. I called DFGELK and left a message as I'm not sure if they realize there is still an elk on the base. He really must have been hiding becuase I've not seen an elk on the base since they moved them and I drive through there everyday.

 

[DFGELK]

We are away of the elk and he has been there for some time (if it is the same elk). I need to see if he has ear tags because we did have an elk that swam back from Grizzly Island to Concord some time ago and we did miss one in the enclosed area. Both of those elk have been moved. So this elk is another one that was missed or swam back, Fish and Game is responding to the call. I am off today but have been in contact with local Fish and Game and Concord NWS about the situation. Seems like stuff like this always happens on a friday when I am off.

Joe

 

[Kentuck]

Thanks Joe. Given that it was on the north side of the base I bet it came from Grizz. I didn't notice any ear tags but with the rack he had I wasn't noticing his ears! Also, I left a message on your work phone.

 

[DFGELK]

I did not check my messages today since I was off, but I did have my cell. Just noticed my typos in the original post, my little fat fingers sometimes have a mind of their own. I got a report of an elk last week that had jumped a fence on Concord. They are usually second hand reports and I can not tell if it actually jumped the fence back into the inland area or just near the inland area. I will let you know how it goes once I get a report back from the people who went out there. One report was that it was stuck in a fence for awhile but got free or was set free by some other people. It is never dull.

Joe

 

[ducslayer]

Joe I make a motion that this elk be donated to JHO by the DFG for a Bar-b-q..............

All in favor say" I "!

 

[DFGELK]

Turns out someone (I do not know who) put a rope around the elk to pull it out of some place it was stuck, of course no one really thinks it through... Now I have a 700lb elk with a rope around its neck that is totally free. So it ran off, Fish and Game tried to find it on friday but could not.


Joe

 

[Kentuck]

The folks that put a rope around it were CCWD employees. When I left they said they were going to try and get it out of the canal. I didn't think that was such a good idea without more help. Hope it doesn't end up hurt or dead. It is truly a great bull.

 

[Common Sense]

Dumb question, but why did the elk get moved?

 

[Kentuck]

CS,

The Navy has closed the base. No one would be there to monitor the elk, like this one, and make sure they are ok and kept out of the water canals that run through the base. Plus, as I think DFGElk told me via phone once, that the elk are now in a better habitat, 12k+ acres as opposed to 5k of fenced land. There were some awesome bulls in that herd. I could see them from my house fairly regular and then during the August rut, could hear them bugle. Cool.

Kentuck

 

[pbrdog]

Back in 88 - 91 I was stationed on Mare Island. We would go to Concord about once a week to pick up ammunition from one of our magazines. We would always see the elk herds on the base. There were definitely some big ones. A friend of mine worked security on the base. He has a picture of one of the security guys trying to help a elk get unstuck from the chainlink fence (it's antlers were stuck). It looked like a pretty compromising position in the picture. LOL

 

[DFGELK]

There were several reasons why we moved the herd from the 3000 ac fenced enclosure. First we are just about out of new places to re-establish tule elk that meet our criteria. Fenced herds are always an ongoing management concern. Every so many years excess animals need to be moved out or they will destroy the habitat and starve to death. These operations are expensive, take a lot of time, and although our track record is outstanding it can be dangerous to both the animals and to the people involved. We still have two other fenced herds that we can use as seed stock when we find some new areas to establish elk. In fact I was just down at Tupman Tule Elk State Reserve the other week to move excess animals from their enclosure. We baited them into a very large corral trap and successfully relocated 24 cows. No new herd was established but they were used to augment existing herds in San Luis Obispo County and Solano County both on state property.

Joe