In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

21 Signs of Wildlife FORD KELLUM Look at the soft sand or snow by the side of the road for animal and bird tracks. It’s hard to tell the difference between the small bird tracks, so we won’t go into that. Elk make tracks similar to deer tracks except they are twice to three times as large. On snow, they both drag their feet. Both have divided footprints. The elk print is more round than that of a deer. Elk sometimes feed on the bark of the larger Juneberry trees, aspen, and red maple. If you see that sign, you know elk have been there. Notice along the outside edge of a swamp where cedar trees do not have any green foliage from the ground up to nine feet high. This is a browse line caused by the feeding of elk and deer. Especially during the winter, elk reach higher than deer. Therefore, they can compete for winter food. If you look carefully where trees have been cut within the last two years, you may notice that the ends of new shoots, especially those of aspen and red maple, have been eaten off. These buds are nutritious for deer and elk. That’s why timber cutting is considered so important for most wildlife. In a new cutting, before sprouting begins, you may see hundreds of deer, elk, and rabbit tracks where these animals have been feeding on the fallen limbs. If you ‹nd salt blocks, such as those placed by the local Northland Sportsman’s Club, be aware that they attract elk, deer, and porcupines . There was an elk hunt in 1964 and another in December 1965. The legislature gave researchers two years to study the effects of an open season on elk. The DNR held a drawing to see who could hunt for an elk. About 239 90 percent of the hunters got an elk. That was 269 animals felled by 298 hunters in 1964. In 1965, there were 183 animals taken by 298 hunters, a success rate of 61 percent. The DNR allowed the two elk seasons because of elk damage to farm crops, overgrazing of the range, and competition for winter food that deer live on. There were many illegal killings of elk after the regular season. There were also mistake kills made during the two regular seasons, and some elk were wounded and died later. Between 1965 and 1968, the elk herd increased by about 15 percent a year. Then, in 1968, off-road vehicles and snowmobiles began traveling all through the Pigeon River Country, adversely affecting the reproduction of elk, followed shortly by oil company seismic surveys with added people, machines, and noise. Poaching was another serious problem. The elk population was reduced to around 200 animals. The Pigeon River Country Advisory Council passed a resolution and sent it to the DNR asking for control of all off-road vehicles in the area except on county roads. It was done. The elk herd grew, particularly in isolated areas, to 600 to 1,000 animals . Growth of the herd was also attributed to the offer of a $500 reward for poaching convictions; seeding, fertilizing, and controlled access to hydrocarbon sites; and habitat improvement, which provided wider variety of food through selective cutting. During the second week of December 1984, the department held another elk hunt in which 50 hunters were selected in a computer drawing from hundreds of applicants. All the applicants had paid $4; those selected paid an additional $100 for licenses. One hunter did not participate because of an illness in his family. The other 49 each killed an elk. One hunter was charged with killing four elk that stood together in a clearing. One of those four elk was a 16-year-old female, the oldest animal taken in the hunt. She weighed 360 pounds ‹eld dressed. The largest elk harvested was a bull that weighed 632 pounds ‹eld dressed, which is well over 900 pounds live weight. Two six-month-old calves were killed, one weighing 217 and the other 202 pounds. Field personnel counted 891 elk in the entire range in January, projecting a total elk population of 940. The department began a similar hunt annually, with success rates for hunters dropping to about 70 percent . By 2006, Michigan was posting two elk-hunting seasons per year—one for nine days in August and September outside the Pigeon and the other for eight days in December in the forest...

Share