HH5 Elk Traditional Cache

This cache is part of the Haunted Hollow 5 event and is located just off one of the many trails located in Sleepy Hollow State Park. Most of the trails are well groomed and hard packed making a bike a great way to get to the caches in the area.

A Michigan Passport is required for entry to the park and may be purchased there. Keep in mind during hunting season to be aware of hunters in the area. Hunting is allowed from September 15 until April 1st each year.

Cervus canadensis

Elk

Key Characteristics

The elk is a large animal of the ungulate order Artiodactyla, possessing an even number of toes on each foot, similar to those of camels, goats and cattle. It is a ruminant species, with a four-chambered stomach, and feeds on grasses, plants, leaves and bark. During the summer, elk eat almost constantly, consuming between 4 and 7 kilograms (8.8 and 15 lb) daily. In North America, males are called bulls, and females are called cows. In Asia, stag and hind, respectively, are sometimes used instead.

Habitat

Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Although native to North America and eastern Asia, they have adapted well to countries where they have been introduced, including Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. Their great adaptability may threaten endemic species and ecosystems into which they have been introduced.

Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Males also engage in ritualized mating behaviors during the rut, including posturing, antler wrestling (sparring), and bugling, a loud series of vocalizations which establishes dominance over other males and attracts females.

Michigan Elk

Michigan's native elk disappeared around 1875. Today's elk herd dates back to 1918, when seven western animals were released near Wolverine. From that reintroduction, the number of animals grew steadily to about 1,500 elk in the early 1960s. They reached the point where limited hunting was possible in 1964 and 1965.

During the late 1960s, several factors kept the elk herd below its biological potential for population growth, including reduced habitat quality. The herd also was hard hit by poaching. There were about only 200 elk in the winter of 1975.

In the late 1970s, renewed public interest in the elk herd was spurred by oil exploration in the Pigeon River area of the elk range. Reduced poaching losses, habitat improvement and successful management of hydrocarbon development resulted in an increase in elk numbers to 850 by 1984.

As the herd grew, problems also increased with forest and agricultural damage. To bring the herd in better balance with its natural food supplies and with the needs of landowners, elk hunting resumed in 1984. Biologists estimated the January 2006 population to be between 800-900 animals. This goal is a winter herd of 800 to 900 elk.