My first Iowa bull elk
Elk
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Well kinda, I found him today while out shed hunting in western Iowa. Dnr officer didn't have any knowledge of one in the area. Got a salvage tag, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. Anybody want to estimate age and score.
This is a joke, right????
Nope no joke. I drove all the way to Montana last September and spent all that money on a non res elk tag not knowing i had one right here in Iowa.
I think they are protected in Iowa.. I've heard that when they are spotted its usually after they escape from a private "elk farm".. they are considered "alternative livestock" .. a buddy of mine saw one up by Ames a few years back..
Thats bad ass! I was thinking it was a farm bull too but what do I know?
Anybody can find the big antlers! The little ones are the challenge!
Nice find, Scrappy!
Officer said there is no elk farms close but who knows where he came from.
He did kinda stick out a little T-roy. I did find this little piece of an antler today as well, just saying.
I'll bet that was a surprise!...Nice find for sure!...Probably have some well fed coyotes in the area.
I’d say it scores pretty high for Iowa :)
Cnelk maybe I got me an iowa State record.
“maybe I got me an iowa State record”
Enter it. You’ll be on the short list
One was seen near Missouri Valley last fall
225 net. You going to measure it?
Too cool! Congratulations on a great find!
Wonder if it came from the herd out of Fort Riley, KS.
In 1978m we had an elk walk across Northwestern Iowa. Game warden followed him for 5 days to make sure he was safe. Then he walked into Missoueri
That's pretty awesome! Any idea what killed it/died of ? I did the same thing, drove 700miles to Colorado elk hunting. And when we get back, a neighbor comes over with a trail cam pic of a 5x6 bull. 6 miles from my house.
I'd say 3.5 to 4.5 yo. Pretty easy to rough score it. Put a tape on it. Should have been a healthy bull overwintering just fine, what with no competition or mates to spend all his energy reserves on. Someone probably shot it and left it or lost it. Once in a lifetime Iowa find I'd wager. Nice! Do the Euro! Dig out and keep the ivories seperate, drill holes through the roots and string 'em on a cord, or you'll lose them.
I know they have made it pretty far south in Minnesota before. I’ve been seeing this one for about 10 years now, no women to bother him so he just stayed here I guess.
I have a buddy in Union Country that has seen several elk over the years.
My brother said there was a bull down around the Winterset area for a few years. He's got hunting land there. Several people supposedly got pics of it.
Grubby, where was that pic taken?
There’s elk in Nevraska where the Missouri River meets the Niobrara River. That’s not too far from Iowa.
Cool find! There was a really big bull roaming around the hills near Verdigre NE this fall. Also heard one got poached a little east of there.
My pic was taken between Warroad and baudette
I’d forgo the euro mount and make a set of rattling horns. On second thought, maybe that’s not such a good idea. Your decoy will take a worse beating than he did last year!
We’ve had a few moose, bears, and even an occasional mountain lion come through Iowa a few times over the years. The lions are not considered a game species here, so it is legal to kill them. There are quite a few people that raise elk in Iowa as well. Don’t know if that’s where that guy came from, but I’d wager the chances are pretty high that he did.
There are some wild elk running around several places in western Oklahoma besides the Wichita Mountains. My buddy that lives there, sent me a pic of a really nice bull that was killed (legally I believe) somewhere on the S. Canadian River. I also saw a big Aoudad running around west of Clinton, Ok. back in the late 80s.
T-roy Maybe I should mount the antlers on my decoy. Then I wouldn't have to keep getting down to put his head back on.
That's awesome! Congrats on that find man.
Way to go scrap!! Cool story ,,,about 25 years ago here in Maryland,,Christmas morning,,my cousins,a set of twins,and 2 years younger a set of triplets,,yeah my uncle had 5 girls in 2 years,,,they were about 6 or 7or so,, ,,,they all ran to the window,snow fell over night,,a guy had 4 elk locally,,,3 of them were feeding thru my uncle's yard,,,escaped. ,they were all squealing,,,its Santa's reindeer!!!! Priceless...
He might have traveled up from the Missouri herd. A twelve year old girl shot one in central MO this deer season!
As I recall, the dnr confiscated that elk. What a bunch of killjoys!
When I was going to school in Fargo back in the mid seventies, I used to hunt fox out of a super cub, and one day I found a spike bull elk in with a herd of deer southeast of Moorhead. Knew what it was cause I'd already shot a couple elk in MT.
People in iowa are rude. Everybody was just starring at me as i was driving.
Scrappy,
You Da Man!!! What a day!!
Mark
I’d leave it on your grocery getter!
That's the new state record...JS
There will probably be several whitetails that will outscore it at the Deer Classic this year. Non typical of course ;-)
I believe it. Kansas has them all across the state. I'm sure there are more in IA than people realize.
Total haul for the weekend 18 sheds and one bull dead head. Way more bucks still carrying both sides.
That’s a good haul for the year, let alone a weekend! Did you have any encounters with any of those bucks during the season?
I didn't recognize any, I rarely do find the ones I passed during the season. I did find one year before last from one that I had at 37 yards and couldn't get a shot at. I really wanted that guy. It's the one in the front that dwarfs all the rest of them.
Iowawhitetail's Link
Nice find - this does looks familiar though ... I believe this is the same bull that was caught on the trail cams ? Also I'm certain I saw you parked off of 34 on our way home from ice fishing 12mile. https://www.iowawhitetail.com/forum/threads/sc-iowa-elk-on-camera.56842/
Sure looks similar,,,same area iowawhitetail??
Someone asked what he died from? It's been found that a lot of the MO herd are dying from brain worm. Seems the deer carry it without problems but it is fatal in elk!!
Hope you got the ivories too. If you have access to a pressure washer you can blow a lot of that junk off. Wear a face shield. Exciting find.
Grubby, you know MN has 2 different resident elk herds, right?