Smoky Mountain National Park

[emoussa]

Here are some pictures from my spring break trip to the Smoky Mountains. I went in mid march. The water was very cold and it rained and even snowed for most of the week I was there, which made fishing very tough. I caught a total of 3 trout and it was when I didnt have a camera with me. It was a beautiful place and although the fishing was tough, I think the experience improved my skills.

 

[CTobias]

Smokies are great!! I will be fishing them every weekend this summer. I know, it's a tough life.:fart:

 

[Ryan R]

Thanks for sharing the pics emoussa. The fishing out there can be spectacular but even if it's tough conditions the scenery more than makes up for it. Spectacular place. CTobias, you're a luck m'fer.

 

[rckrego]

Is that an elk?!?!?!?!?! Doesn't look like a whitetail to me. Is someone trying to bring back the woodland elk?

 

[Ryan R]

Is that an elk?!?!?!?!?! Doesn't look like a whitetail to me. Is someone trying to bring back the woodland elk?

Oh its definitely an elk, they have them in parts of the park & Cherokee reservation- as well as in Kentucky, a small part of Tennesee, and parts of Virginia now. Also in Pensylvania. You're a little late on the "trying to bring back" because the elk in Pa and Kentucky are flourishing and expanding their range annually. The Kentucky elk population did so well it expanded into Tennessee and Virginia. Since the Eastern elk disappeared a long time ago i think all of these new "Eastern elk" populations were started from transplanted Rocky Mountain Elk- I know for sure that's how the Pennsylvania elk were re-established beginning I think around 1972.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

There's at least one herd of Elk that has been reintroduced in the Cades Cove area of the Smokies. I took a trip down there last year around this time of year and had a similar experience. Lots of rain, rivers were up and tough to fish. We still managed a few fish but the trip was about so much more than just what we caught. Can't wait to get back there sometime soon.

 

[dcabarle]

Aside of you not catching anything, your pictures look great! Thanks for sharing them. I don't think I would mind being out there taking pictures!

 

[emoussa]

Most of my time was spent hiking. I felt more inclined to explore the park than to fish, especially because it was slow. I want to visit the park again and make the hike/camp out to Hazel Creek. The elk were actually relocated to the smokies from a state park along the border of TN and Kentucky.

 

[Stonefly]

The wild PA Elk have always been here and are pretty well protected, the Elk in TN & KY were reintroduced by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
http://www.rmef.org/
http://www.pennsylvaniarmef.org/

 

[CTobias]

Is that an elk?!?!?!?!?! Doesn't look like a whitetail to me. Is someone trying to bring back the woodland elk?

They have a herd of elk there. I was in the Smokies last year with AK, I came out of the woods and saw this big thing in front of me about thirty yards away. Needless to say I went down stream and crossed a good distance from them. They were all in the woods and I was too busy chasing fish to even realize they had moved into the area. What a site!

 

[Ryan R]

The wild PA Elk have always been here and are pretty well protected, the Elk in TN & KY were reintroduced by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Pennsylvania Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Actually Rick, the PA elk were re-introduced. According to the Pa Game Commission's history of Pa elk the last native elk were definitely extirpated from Pa by the late 1870s, likely even earlier. The PGC was formed in 1895 and in 1912 talks began about restoring elk. In 1913, Pa received its first shipment of elk from Yellowstone, 50 elk at a cost of $30 each. In 2001, PA held its first legal elk hunt in over 70 years. Thanks for the links, I got this excerpt too regarding elk restoration from the RMEF site: "Beginning in the early 1900s, Yellowstone National Park became the source for returning elk to some of their original territory. Wildlife managers transported elk by wagon, truck and train to release sites across the continent. Restored elk herds prospered in the western states and in Pennsylvania, but most attempts to bring elk back east of the Mississippi failed.

Thanks to the efforts of the Elk Foundation and its partners, elk have made a triumphant return to their eastern haunts in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Kentucky, Ontario, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Today, about one million elk roam parts of North America."

 

[rckrego]

Yeah the last wild eastern elk was shot in PA in 1877. They apparently were huge. much bigger than the Rockies version. That's really cool. Can you bow hunt for them yet?

 

[Ryan R]

Yeah the last wild eastern elk was shot in PA in 1877. They apparently were huge. much bigger than the Rockies version. That's really cool. Can you bow hunt for them yet?

Yes, I'm pretty sure you can although there is no seperate archery season for them. That elk killed in 1877, was unsubstantiated report from Centre County I think, that's why they say the last elk could've been gone years before that. I didn't know that they were any bigger than most other elk subspecies though? I think the Roosevelt Elk is the largest subspecies.

 

[rckrego]

Eastern was supposed to be the biggest at 1000 lbs. Some reports of "lost herds" still in the wilds of Ontario. The Eastern was also supposed to have a very distinct rack. I'm a sucker for a distinct rack.

 

[Ryan R]

Eastern was supposed to be the biggest at 1000 lbs. Some reports of "lost herds" still in the wilds of Ontario. The Eastern was also supposed to have a very distinct rack. I'm a sucker for a distinct rack.

I was reading accounts that they've re-introduced Roosevelt elk into parts of Alaska and some of the bulls have reached 1300lbs. Rocky Mtn Elk can reach 1000lbs, its stated that most Pa bulls average 700lbs.

 

[mbwmn]

So, what did one cowl say to the other cow?


"Let's go own to the Elks club and blow a few bucks".

(you guys keep lobbing them out there and i'll keep swinging...)

 

[rckrego]

RIMSHOT!

Ryan-

Check this out: Eastern elk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia