Winter's arrival brings elk feeding back to Oak Creek

Luke Thompson / Yakima Herald-Republic (TNS)
Posted 12/26/24

A handful of curious elk wandered down the ridge Friday afternoon to the Oak Creek feeding station, where many of their brethren had already started eating their daily 1:30 p.m. meal of hay.

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Winter's arrival brings elk feeding back to Oak Creek

Posted

A handful of curious elk wandered down the ridge Friday afternoon to the Oak Creek feeding station, where many of their brethren had already started eating their daily 1:30 p.m. meal of hay.

Many of the herd's biggest bucks camped out at the bales nearest to the fence line, offering a close-up view for around 15 people who stopped by to watch. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife employees closed the winter gates on Sunday, Dec. 15, the official end of hunting season, and feeding began the next day.

Daily guided tours began Saturday with the help of visitor center volunteers, who also share information about the elk and are paid for their travel thanks to a grant from the Wildlife Department's Aquatic Land Enhancement Account. Emma Charlet, a full-time WDFW staffer who drives the feeding trucks along with new employee Nic Venema, said the volunteers will work with people to accommodate tours.

"You can call ahead and make a reservation but you don't have to," Charlet said. "If someone had a bunch of people and they wanted to reserve multiple trucks, they could."

Of course, many more elk will likely head down to the feeding site this winter. Oak Creek Wildlife Area manager Greg Mackey expects the number to at least double in size but said even with a relatively early start they should have enough hay to last through the full season.

However, he expects numbers will stay slightly lower at Oak Creek than before the 2021 Schneider Springs Fire, which appeared to cause some movement in the Yakima Herd that led more elk to go to WDFW's Cowiche feeding site. That area's not open to the public.

Mackey said this summer's Retreat Fire likely won't have any lasting effects on the elk herd, since it burned at a lower intensity at lower elevations. Despite the significant damage it caused for human infrastructure and residents in the area, Mackey said the 45,000-acre fire provided mostly benefits for elk and other wildlife.

After falling to an estimated 8,500 animals in 2017 surveys that Mackey acknowledged may not be reliable, the Yakima Herd's recovered well and sits at about 10,000, according to the wildlife department. Mackey credits changing guidelines focused on allowing hunters to kill fewer females, and Charlet said the next population surveys will be conducted in mid-February.



Elk have lived in Washington for thousands of years, although their numbers plummeted in the 1800s and they mostly disappeared until a reintroduction in the early 20th century. Mackey's scheduled to give a presentation on the history of elk in Yakima County on March 4 at Yakima Valley College as part of the Winter Talks series hosted in collaboration with Cowiche Canyon Conservancy.

"A lot of people I don't think understand what's happened," Mackey said. "There's a lot of stuff that we don't know, like we don't know for sure why the elk numbers were low."

Whatever the reason, visitors to the Oak Creek feeding site won't see any evidence of it while watching hundreds of the majestic animals.

Elk tours WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. WHERE: Oak Creek Feeding Station. WHO: Max of 15 adults per truck, multiple trucks possible for bigger groups. RESERVATIONS: Not required, call the Oak Creek Visitor Center at 509-653-1237. 

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