Elk Herd Near Salinas, CA

[Ulma Doctor]

Last week, i took a road i never been on before to avoid a traffic jam.
it was a really nice ride, on a poorly maintained county road.
near my stop, i saw some animals that looked familiar but they were in a place where i have never seen them before.
a herd of tule elk, as i counted 31 strong.
there was one bull and 30 cows
they seemed to be just as shocked at seeing me as i was seeing them.
i had to stop for a few minutes and watch them, even snapped a couple pictures before i moved on

for the wildlife enthusiast,
the tule elk

the first picture was very grainy, taken with an i-phone at about 250 yards
you can just make out what got my attention in the first place, the Bull.
he had an outstanding rack, most likely more than 6 points on a side



after this picture was taken, the herd was well aware of my presence and started to get a little antsy,
they moved to the south, thankfully there was a greater pasture for better pictures





i was able to snap a short video of the herd in action

it was really nice to see these beautiful animals doing what they do.
i hope the herd stays strong.

thanks for looking!

 

[ChrisAttebery]

Were you on the East side somewhere? There are herds in the Diablo Range. I’ve seen them along 101 between Morgan Hill and San Jose.

They breed them at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in Los Banos. Apparently there were only a couple dozen left at one point.

I took these with my 150-600mm at the North end of Coyote Golf Course from 101.

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

Is there a wolf presence in that area that you know of?

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Is there a wolf presence in that area that you know of?

no, sir- no wolves here.
there are coyote and fox, but that's about it as far as goes predator wise.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Were you on the East side somewhere? There are herds in the Diablo Range. I’ve seen them along 101 between Morgan Hill and San Jose.

They breed them at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in Los Banos. Apparently there were only a couple dozen left at one point.

I took these with my 150-600mm at the North end of Coyote Golf Course from 101.

Hi Chris,
thanks for sharing!

I was on Old Stage Road, about 3/4 mile north of Williams Rd

i see the elk at San Luis Reservoir nearly twice a month.
that is a high point of the drive to the Monterey Peninsula and places south

They have a small herd in Concord near the Naval Weapons Depot.
i have not seen them as prolific as they were in the early 80's

there is also a large herd at Grizzly Island , south of Suisun City.
as a matter of fact,
they let a few hunters take a few of the elk every year to keep population in check due to the lack of predators.


thanks for posting the shots of the Coyote Creek mob

with a little help from humans, the elk may have a chance

 

[Ulma Doctor]

as another point of information i just recalled,
there is another herd of Tule Elk near Cholame, CA ,
(very near the place where James Dean was killed @ the HWY41/HWY46 Junction)

 

[talvare]

Thanks for sharing the photos Mike. There are also herds of elk at Orick and Shelter Cove up near the northern California coast. I always love seeing them.

Ted

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Thanks for sharing the photos Mike. There are also herds of elk at Orick and Shelter Cove up near the northern California coast. I always love seeing them.

Ted

Yes sir Ted, i had forgotten about them- i love seeing them anywhere!
as a matter of fact we saw both the herds when we went salmon fishing on the Klamath

i feared for the life of a couple tourist people in Orick who were attempting to get selfies with the elk.
i had to yell at a group of them, tellin' the morons that they (the elk) can kill humans
they backed off quick.

 

[mikey]

Yes sir Ted, i had forgotten about them- i love seeing them anywhere!
as a matter of fact we saw both the herds when we went salmon fishing on the Klamath

i feared for the life of a couple tourist people in Orick who were attempting to get selfies with the elk.
i had to yell at a group of them, tellin' the morons that they (the elk) can kill humans
they backed off quick.

Another of life's little truisms - elk don't kill people; stupidity kills people.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Another of life's little truisms - elk don't kill people; stupidity kills people.

LOL,
Darwin came close to having his theories boldly tested