Elk Removals

A collection of 134 posts

"Invasion Biology"

Texas Elk and the North American Wildlife Conservation Model

For 150-years American conservationists have followed the the North American Wildlife Conservation Model. It has been beneficial for waterfowl and iconic big game species across the continent with the exception of elk in far-West Texas. Here on state-managed lands Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) bighorn sheep managers kill all

"Invasion Biology"

Circle Ranch Wildlife Cameras - Summer 2017

Every month we review 5,000 pictures and post a few of the most interesting. What is pictured here is biodiversity. Multiple species are complimentary – not competitive. Ranges need keystone grazers like bison or cattle, lots of predators and lots of prey species. Without all these, the systems come apart.

"Invasion Biology"

Desert Mule Deer "Management": Does Culling Low-Point Desert Mule Deer Bucks Help or Harm the Herd and Its Genetics?

Culling Mule Deer – or whitetail – is scientifically unjustifiable, and does not improve herd genetics. Note: This post originally appeared on this blog in November 2014 Approach #1: Remove Cull Bucks to Improve Herd Genetics …Jerad Wayne Zachary, Deer Guide Dear Mr. Gill, I hope you are doing well. I just

"Invasion Biology"

Legislation Reclassifying Elk as 'Exotic'

Here is the legislation that changed Texas’ native elk from treasured, protected game animals to vermin that are shot on sight at all state-managed lands in far-West Texas. The legislative declaration that elk are not native is scientifically incorrect and meaningless.   This legislation was introduced under the normal “radar,” declaring

"Invasion Biology"

TPWD Mule Deer Habitat Advice

I was surprised to learn at a TPWD mule deer seminar that the way we graze cattle at Circle Ranch harms plants and water function. So I read all the studies on which these conclusions were based and found they did not study what they claimed to study. I wrote

"Invasion Biology"

Reds on Shrimp, Gulls on Reds

On May 21, 2011 we were fly fishing for redfish in the lower Laguna Madre.  Here’s a wonderful photograph of a redfish pod feeding on shrimp, and gulls trailing the redfish to pick up their leavings.   You might wonder why this picture has been entered on a blog dedicated

Big Bend Ranch State Park

Big Bend Still Breathtaking After All These Years

Big Bend and far-West Texas is the most overlooked part of the West. NOTE: This post initially appeared on SAExpressNews.com on April 27, 2017. Feature photo by: Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK — Since its opening in 1944, breathtaking Big Bend National Park has drawn visitors from

"Invasion Biology"

New York Today: Prospect Park Goes to the Goats

Even the folks in New York City have figured out that animal impact – in this case ‘exotic’ goats –  can better maintain open space than machinery or chemicals.  This insight puts them ahead of Texas’ mainstream wildlife ‘managers’. NOTE: This post initially appeared on NYTimes.com on May, 2016 To help

Agri-business

Eco Profits - Whose Money Harms The Environment?

Author Dan Dagger says in part, “Environmental corporatism is guilty of the same offense of which it has made a career of accusing capitalism, the free market, and private enterprise: Getting rich at the expense of the environment. And its consumers are just as blind to the damage they cause

"Invasion Biology"

The Ultimate Pursuit in Hunting: Sheep

Desert Bighorn Sheep are one of four wild sheep found in North America. All four are incredible animals. Few private landowners in far-West Texas have as much experience or success with Desert Bighorn Sheep as ourselves. Our experience is that sheep are easy to raise: Add lots of free water

"Invasion Biology"

Slideshow: Circle Ranch Wildlife, December 2016

There is not a federal or state park in far-West Texas where one can see free ranging elk, sheep, pronghorn and mule deer together. These animals and many others are found in abundance at Circle Ranch, because of our (1) water system, (2) periodic planned cattle grazing, (3) protection of

Bio-Diversity

Insect Armageddon: "The Fate of the World’s Insects Is Inseparable from Our Own"

Unless we adopt rangeland and agricultural practices that respect biodiversity and reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides, we face catastrophic insect “declines (which) will cascade onto ecosystem functioning and human well-being.” NOTE: This article was initially published to NYTimes.com on October 29, 2017 There is alarming

"Invasion Biology"

National Bison Day 2016

To be healthy, desert ranges need three things: (1) Large, concentrated migratory bison herds, or cattle grazed in a manner that mimics bison’s migratory patterns; (2) a lot of predators of all sizes; and, (3) a high, diverse population of prey species. Remove any of these and the system

"Invasion Biology"

U.S. - Mexico Teamwork Where the Rio Grande Is but a Ribbon

The destructive and wasteful application of invasive species biology as promoted by The New York Times. Invasive species biology is based on the assumption that anything done by an “invasive” is by definition bad. According to the invasive species folks, cane is a sneaky invader that has driven out native

"Invasion Biology"

Circle Ranch Game Cameras - August 2016

The reason biodiversity is good not bad is because species are usually complimentary, not “competitive.” To be healthy, desert ranges need three things: (1) Large, concentrated migratory bison herds, or, cattle grazed to mimic bison’s migratory patterns; (2) a lot of predators of all sizes; and, (3) a high,

"Invasion Biology"

Circle Ranch Game Cameras - July 2016

To be healthy, desert ranges need three things: (1) Large, concentrated migratory bison herds, or, cattle grazed to mimic bison’s migratory patterns; (2) a lot of predators of all sizes; and, (3) a high, diverse population of prey species. Remove any of these and the systems collapse. Most wildlife

Animal Development

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) - America's Answer to Mad Cow Disease

Here is a useful body of early information on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD’s history has been revised considerably in the last 15-years. NOTE: This post is taken verbatim from MadCow.org Mad deer, mad elk: sources, definitions, and diagnosis CWD Video Successful transmission of CWD to primate and

"Invasion Biology"

Early Summer 2016 - Game Cameras

Healthy ranges need: (1) Big nomadic grazers (bison or cows under planned grazing), (2) abundant predators and (3) lots of prey numbers and kinds. Take any one of these out and the system collapses.  The systems’ need for biodiversity is a physiological fact, not a social concept.   For 10-years in

"Invasion Biology"

13 Chronic Wasting Disease Cases Confirmed at Medina County Facility

All cases of CWD can be traced back to the Foothills Wildlife Research Station in Ft. Collins, a facility of the Colorado Department of Wildlife, in 1967. Agencies have closed ranks: It appears that amnesia has spread like CWD. No one seems to remember what was being done to the

"Invasion Biology"

Learning from Africa's Herbivores

These articles shed light on some of the basic insights of holistic management, planned grazing, and permaculture, as to the physiology of desert grasslands: * Plants need animals as much as animals need plants. * Many, many kinds of animals, from large to small, are necessary for healthy habitat. * Restoration of animal

"Invasion Biology"

Book Review: The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters

The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters by Sean B. Carroll is a great book about nature’s basic rules and contains many valuable insights on desert grasslands. While Carroll didn’t intend to write a book about holistic management, The Serengeti Rules

"Invasion Biology"

Spring 2016 Game Cameras

Biodiversity is Good, not Bad Because plants need animals as much as animals need plants, a biodiverse plant community requires a biodiverse animal community. Conventional wildlife “management” and “conservation” theory says that most of the animals, and especially the predators pictured below harm “native” plants and animals, through “competition”, and

"Invasion Biology"

Eyewitness Account of Pronghorn, Bison, Elk, & Mule Deer Sharing Desert Ranges

According to invasive species believers, including TPWD, bison and elk should be removed from our state parks and wildlife management areas because they don’t belong and because they “compete” with, and “harm” desert bighorn sheep and pronghorn.   Here is an eyewitness account of these species sharing range in the

"Invasion Biology"

State of Texas - Resolution H.R. No. 2159: Legislation to Change the "Exotic" Classification of Elk

Elk are a Texas native which , before Europeans, roamed our state from north to south and east to west. For years a group of us have attempted to remove the “exotic” classification which has led to so much perversity in the treatment of this animal.   In the last legislature, despite

"Invasion Biology"

Parks and Wildlife Begins Reducing Deer Population at Texas Mountain Ranch

CWD and high-fenced deer go hand in hand. Chronic Wasting Disease was created in a government-funded, high-fenced experimental wildlife facility near Fort Collins, Colorado. They won’t say what was being done to these confined animals, but instead spin the story to imply CWD appeared spontaneously. The same agencies that