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Raising elk is a new hobby that's gaining popularity all around the world these days. "They are fun, and exciting to raise," Dave Claborn points out from Hatfield Arkansas.
Click on Romeo's picture for a close up view and you'll feel a little bit cautious too. Incidentally, when Romeo got this close, I had already decided it was time to get back inside my truck. A full grown elk can weigh half a ton. Even when I was a young cowboy I would not have wanted to wrestle one. Anyone that wants a tame elk to come up picture close has only to dangle out apples or pears through the fence. But Romeo came crowding in on me to put me on the other side of his fence. Protecting the herd from strange apple lobbers, that's his job. "Oh, most of the time he isn't so bad," Dave explains. "Most of the time he will come right up to me and eat from the bucket. Of course, I let him come to me; I don't crowd him any." So, what happens when one of these gentle giants get away from you? Well as it so happens, one did get away on Dave. "Neighbors began calling to say they had seen one of my cow elk near their home. They were kind of tickled to see it, but I wanted to get it back as quickly as possible anyway." Dave took a tranquilizer gun with him and brought her down. "We weren't sure how long she would stay down with the dose I was told to give her. So we got her loaded into a stock trailer as fast as we could. Her eyes kept fluttering open every time we moved so I gave her another shot. That was a mistake I guess because then she liked to never have woke up when I got her home."
Elk love to get down in the pond and roll around. In fact, they prefer to drink muddy water. "If the water is clear they will stomp around in it until it is muddy before taking a drink." "Elk will waste a lot of feed on you if it isn't put inside a container or up against a tree, some fallen branches, or the fence. They want to rip it up, trample it, and paw. By putting it up against something that will hold it the food is still there when the elk get ready to eat." That kind of makes you wonder about the wisdom of holding onto the bucket while Romeo eats, doesn't it?"
"Here in southern Arkansas the elk develop two hard horns in the first week of May. The horns come into velvet about 60 days later." The velvet regularly sells for $30 a pound and has been known to sell for $150 a pound. Depending on the bull's stamina and lineage elk can produce a rack with velvet weighing up to 50 pounds. With proper precautions and special power tools, the velvet can be sawn off without hurting the animals.
Romeo, whose real name is Access, is real royalty when it comes to lineage. Dave will tell anyone: "I think I have the best blood lines available when it comes to raising elk." North Fork Pride is the father of Access. Dakota Pride is his grandfather. Chief Dakota is a half brother. On the other side, Access sprang from the loins of Undenia-Bull. Dave's herd now numbers 14. "When I first bought elk in Missouri no license and no permits were required to raise elk in Arkansas. The vet called the state and Arkansas let them in. We went ahead and got all the shots and everything else they needed anyway and brought them on home."
Dave laughs at that idea. "You should see how wild deer jump and run when they spot one of my elks." Strangely enough, nothing was being done about the wild elk ranging around loose up in the northern part of the state. Nonetheless, Dave brought his other elk home to a place in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry is responsible for monitoring the raising of elk. Any deer admitted to the state must be under the Chronic Waste Disease Program for a minimum of four years. In 2005 Arkansas suddenly reversed its opinion and Dave brought all of his elk home to Hatfield. Currently there are only three people trying to raise elk in Arkansas. "The biggest problem with elk is they won't "bull" like a cow will. You can't tell just by looking when it is time to breed them."
Consequently, Dave has to use a heat inducer (a PSMG which is left inside the cow for 14 days) and then the cow is bred artificially in the same way a prize heifer is on working ranches. You can call Dave for Calf prices at 870 389 6418. Most people use the fax though. the number for it is: 870 389 6798 |
Dirt holds special interest for the elk. Dave left a pile
of dirt in the pen and the elk would climb to the top as if playing King of the
Hill. Then they would paw through it, or Romeo would rip it apart with his
antlers. Do you see what a tangled mass of antlers Romeo has here?
The first year he only had one long spike on each side. He rubbed them
hard against anything that would stand still. In places they were almost
worn through. This past year he produced a huge spreading rack with five
spikes growing out kind of like the branches of a wild plum tree.
