minnesota has elk? who would of thought...

[russd]

My link

 

i didn't even know minnesota had elk...

[azslim]

so does Wis, Tenn and Penn......transplants from out west

[Outdoor Writer]

so does Wis, Tenn and Penn......transplants from out west

 

Add Nebraska, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky to the list. Texas also has free-ranging elk now, but they are still classified as livestock, not game.

[hunterlee]

Great story. thanks for the link. Good thing it didnt happen in AZ, because the AZGFD would have seen $$$ instead and would have taken the rack to auction.

[BikerRN]

You can also add IL to the list of Elk inhabiting states.

 

If one is after meat for the freezer I find ranch/farm raised animals to be ethical, but it doesn't classify as a hunt in my mind. For it to be a hunt the animal must be taken in it's native habitat. That also rules out the AZ Buffalo Hunts, no matter how much like a real hunt they are, in my opinion.

 

I'll call it a hunt, act like and prepare like it's a hunt, and may even come home empty sometimes, but it's still not what I consider when I think of a hunt. I can take a gemsbok in Texas but that doesn't mean it's a hunt, nor should it qualify for any records no matter how big it is.

 

Just my $0.02.

 

With all that said I am considering going to TN to partake of some pseudo-hunts for animals that I want to put in my freezer.

 

Biker

[Rembrant]

Great story. thanks for the link. Good thing it didnt happen in AZ, because the AZGFD would have seen $$$ instead and would have taken the rack to auction.

All states have their regulations and rules. The Minnesota Game dept had to sort it out just as the Az Game Dept. would have to sort it out. In Az., it would have been determined that the death was not man-caused and the guy who found it would get to keep it.

The Game Departments are not the bad guys, folks.

 

Mike

[Outdoor Writer]

You can also add IL to the list of Elk inhabiting states.

 

If one is after meat for the freezer I find ranch/farm raised animals to be ethical, but it doesn't classify as a hunt in my mind. For it to be a hunt the animal must be taken in it's native habitat. That also rules out the AZ Buffalo Hunts, no matter how much like a real hunt they are, in my opinion.

 

I'll call it a hunt, act like and prepare like it's a hunt, and may even come home empty sometimes, but it's still not what I consider when I think of a hunt. I can take a gemsbok in Texas but that doesn't mean it's a hunt, nor should it qualify for any records no matter how big it is.

 

Just my $0.02.

 

With all that said I am considering going to TN to partake of some pseudo-hunts for animals that I want to put in my freezer.

 

Biker

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think IL has any FREE-RANGING elk, as in the other states I and others listed. I believe they are only available there on fenced properties. As for many of the other states, elk, which once were animals of the Plains, were NATIVE at one time.

 

AND...if one applied the "native habitat" deal to all game, it would include Rocky Mt. elk and bighorn sheep in AZ, all or certain subspecies of wild turkey in many states where they now exist and several other species or subspecies of game. The oodles of fish species and subspecies that have been introduced all over the country into non-native habitats is too long to list, but we could begin with every trout in AZ except the Gila and Apache.

[BikerRN]

I could be wrong, but I don't think IL has any FREE-RANGING elk, as in the other states I and others listed. I believe they are only available there on fenced properties. As for many of the other states, elk, which once were animals of the Plains, were NATIVE at one time.

 

AND...if one applied the "native habitat" deal to all game, it would include Rocky Mt. elk and bighorn sheep in AZ, all or certain subspecies of wild turkey in many states where they now exist and several other species or subspecies of game. The oodles of fish species and subspecies that have been introduced all over the country into non-native habitats is too long to list, but we could begin with every trout in AZ except the Gila and Apache.

 

You forgot the Santa Cruz Brown Trout.

 

There's a lot of game in AZ that aren't native. You are correct in that as far as I know the elk in IL are on fenced properties. My own personal opinion is, to qualify as a "hunt", and the record books, it should be differentiated from non-native species. That's not the way it is, and is only my opinion. I can take a zebra in TX if I'm so inclined, but no matter how hard I have to work to get that zebra I didn't have to make a forty hour plane ride.

 

I think only native species should qualify for the record books. That would leave out Buffalo here in AZ, as it is an introduced species. My rule is simple, like me, "Native species in native habitat if going for a record book."

 

Biker

[Outdoor Writer]

I think only native species should qualify for the record books. That would leave out Buffalo here in AZ, as it is an introduced species. My rule is simple, like me, "Native species in native habitat if going for a record book."

 

Biker

 

As stated above, it would also eliminate the Rocky Mt. elk and Rocky Mt. bighorns here in AZ, both of which are introduced critters.

[BikerRN]

I think only native species should qualify for the record books. That would leave out Buffalo here in AZ, as it is an introduced species. My rule is simple, like me, "Native species in native habitat if going for a record book."

 

Biker

 

As stated above, it would also eliminate the Rocky Mt. elk and Rocky Mt. bighorns here in AZ, both of which are introduced critters.

 

Yes it would, but I'm not so sure that would be a bad thing.

 

I will play the game by the rules, I just think they need to be "tweaked". That's only my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

 

Biker