Qbn Hunter
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Saturday, November 23, 2002
Farmer sees large elk in field, shoots it
By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer
Tulia farmer Brad Sharp got a big surprise this week while harvesting his milo: A 900-pound bull elk raised its head above the crops in a nearby wheat field, calmly watching Sharp approach on his combine.
"He was just standing out in the wheat grazing," said Sharp, who later shot the elk. "He was a big one."
Elk are rare in the Panhandle. Game officials think the elk Sharp shot could have come from a small herd near Channing or from New Mexico, possibly fleeing because of wildfires there earlier this year.
"That's just speculation," Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Audie Hamm said. "It's possible."
Sharp was about 400 yards away when he first saw the animal, which Hamm estimates was at least 6 feet tall at its back, but lost sight of it and figured it was lying down in the wheat.
Sharp called Hamm to ask him what to do with the elk. A few hours later, the two men located the elk in the wheat field and Sharp shot it after learning from Hamm that elk are nonseason animals, meaning they can be hunted year-round like coyotes.
The animal, which Hamm estimated might be about 5 years old, could have been in Sharp's field for weeks, Hamm said.
"He had an excellent food source, water nearby, a hiding place and probably could have stayed several more weeks if Brad hadn't been out there and found him," he said.
Sharp used a front-end loader to take the elk out of the field.
"There's no way I could have gotten it into a pickup," Sharp said. "It was too heavy."
Sharp is having the elk butchered and will get about 400 pounds of meat. He's also planning to have a taxidermist mount the elk's head and shoulders.
A handful of large animals have been spotted recently in the Panhandle.
About a month ago, Hamm began getting reports about the large elk, and there have been spottings of two more elk over the past year in Swisher, Briscoe, Floyd and Castro counties.
About a month ago, a dead cinnamon-colored bear was found dead between Amarillo and Conway. Another was found alive near Friona, tranquilized with a dart gun and taken to suitable habitat west of Texas, Hamm said.
End of Story
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Now I have a question why would they consider elks as a nonseason animal like yotes? I wonder if a couple hundred yrs. ago if elk were not roaming that area of Texas?
Farmer sees large elk in field, shoots it
By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer
Tulia farmer Brad Sharp got a big surprise this week while harvesting his milo: A 900-pound bull elk raised its head above the crops in a nearby wheat field, calmly watching Sharp approach on his combine.
"He was just standing out in the wheat grazing," said Sharp, who later shot the elk. "He was a big one."
Elk are rare in the Panhandle. Game officials think the elk Sharp shot could have come from a small herd near Channing or from New Mexico, possibly fleeing because of wildfires there earlier this year.
"That's just speculation," Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Audie Hamm said. "It's possible."
Sharp was about 400 yards away when he first saw the animal, which Hamm estimates was at least 6 feet tall at its back, but lost sight of it and figured it was lying down in the wheat.
Sharp called Hamm to ask him what to do with the elk. A few hours later, the two men located the elk in the wheat field and Sharp shot it after learning from Hamm that elk are nonseason animals, meaning they can be hunted year-round like coyotes.
The animal, which Hamm estimated might be about 5 years old, could have been in Sharp's field for weeks, Hamm said.
"He had an excellent food source, water nearby, a hiding place and probably could have stayed several more weeks if Brad hadn't been out there and found him," he said.
Sharp used a front-end loader to take the elk out of the field.
"There's no way I could have gotten it into a pickup," Sharp said. "It was too heavy."
Sharp is having the elk butchered and will get about 400 pounds of meat. He's also planning to have a taxidermist mount the elk's head and shoulders.
A handful of large animals have been spotted recently in the Panhandle.
About a month ago, Hamm began getting reports about the large elk, and there have been spottings of two more elk over the past year in Swisher, Briscoe, Floyd and Castro counties.
About a month ago, a dead cinnamon-colored bear was found dead between Amarillo and Conway. Another was found alive near Friona, tranquilized with a dart gun and taken to suitable habitat west of Texas, Hamm said.
End of Story
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Now I have a question why would they consider elks as a nonseason animal like yotes? I wonder if a couple hundred yrs. ago if elk were not roaming that area of Texas?
