It is the normal habit of the elk in the region to spend the nine winter
months in the lower mountain valleys and the summer months foraging on
the fresh and succulent meadow grasses of the subalpine forest and
alpine tundra country above 10,000 feet. Because of man-made
restrictions in their winter territory, the elk congregate principally
in Moraine Park, Beaver Meadows, and Horseshoe Park at this time. The
past years of protection and adequate vegetation so increased their
numbers that early in the 1940's there were some signs of large herds
"grazing off" most of their natural winter food available in these
valleys. To alleviate this overgrazing in the Park, the state of
Colorado authorized elk hunting on adjacent national forest lands in
1941 in order to remove excess elk migrating out of the Park. However,
this effort did not remove sufficient numbers from the Park herds.
Instead of allowing this potentially serious condition to continue and
the eventuality of either watching the elk starve or else feeding the
animals year after year, a harvest of surplus numbers by hunting was
conducted in the winter of 1944-1945. In this way a possible catastrophe
of starving and dying off of the entire elk herd was halted. The present
reduced elk herd of about 800 animals is considered more nearly within
the winter range carrying capacity. The fact that there are no longer
grizzly bear and sufficient cougar to take a normal number of these
animals as food was an aiding factor to the rapid increase of elk.
Concentrated numbers of elk seeking refuge in the aspen groves during
heavy winters in the lower valleys have heavily damaged the aspen trunks
by stripping bark for food. It is believed that pregnant cow elk, in
particular, are able to obtain vitamin A from the aspen bark for their
welfare at that time. This stripping or opening of the aspen trunk
allows penetration of fatal tree fungi, which may damage many aspen
groves. Fortunately, the prolific aspen grows rapidly and soon should
reappear satisfactorily.