# Elk & Aspens



## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

Do elk relate to the aspens any differently when the leaves are changing color? Perhaps nutritional value changes or something? 

I am considering planning my general season archery hunt to coincide with the change as much as possible. I've never seen it before.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Here ya go.
Last fall.


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

Nice pick.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

I am passin that question onto someone at a higher pay grade than me, but my guess is possibly maybe!


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

I had to take a quick look at my pictures before commenting. I guess it depends.
Where I have hunted during the general archery season the leaves are just barely getting ready to change during the season dates.

Now muzzle loader :O||:


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Steve G said:


> Do elk relate to the aspens any differently when the leaves are changing color? Perhaps nutritional value changes or something.


Theres a little thing going on during that period of time called the 'Rut'

I dont think the elk are paying attention to the color of the trees.
LOL.


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

goofy elk said:


> Theres a little thing going on during that period of time called the 'Rut'
> 
> I dont think the elk are paying attention to the color of the trees.
> LOL.


Words taken out of my mouth. Imagine this.... You see Scarlett Johansson walking down your street. She is dressed in skimpy clothes and blows a kiss at you saying "Hello Lover Boy!!!" Now tell me... Do you really give a crap about the color of the trucks that just drove by? I'll be surprised if you remember how to breathe. That's just the truth of it.


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## sheepassassin (Mar 23, 2018)

Elk are where you find them. The color of the leaves on the trees have nothing to do with that


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

I will say this about aspens turning yellow; a blood trail on yellow aspen leaves shows up real well!


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## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

High Desert Elk said:


> I will say this about aspens turning yellow; a blood trail on yellow aspen leaves shows up real well!


Can confirm


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

Land O Goshen!


You guys are good at making a guy look/feel stupid.;-)


I never considered that they cared about the color, but maybe the nutritional value or the security they provide diminishes as the trees become bare etc. Also, I will be hunting cow elk so I don't think she cares about Scarlett Johansson, or even her male counterpart for that matter.


Regardless, I do appreciate the humor.


Thanks, I'll take it as a no.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Yep
That would be a no........


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

goofy elk said:


> Here ya go.
> Last fall.


Isn't that a maple?

(I guess Steve didn't specify which leaves. He could have meant hunting the aspens when the maple leaves are changing colors...)


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Gee^^^^^^^^^
Dont let the 'type of' tree get in the way of a good strory.....LOL.

YA, It's a Maple.


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

Steve G said:


> Land O Goshen!
> 
> You guys are good at making a guy look/feel stupid.;-)
> 
> ...


by the emoji I am going to assume you didn't take it personally it wasn't a stab at you but, more our way (at least mine) of saying I can't answer the actual question about nutritional value and security and cover. So... we resort to our natural talents of making humor. During hunting season all that matters is the rut so we tend to ignore everything else and focus on the elk alone. The elk focus on the cows and forget everything else.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

maybe this will help?

Aspen leaf nutritional value information

I know it was mentioned already, but the archery hunt is usually over before the aspens turn colors.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Also while elk will eat leaves most of their diet is grasses. 

How often do you see elk reaching up into the aspens getting leaves? They will browse on the young one but most of the leaves are out of their reach.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

In my observations,
Elk like to chew on aspen bark more than they like the leaves.......


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

goofy elk said:


> In my observations,
> Elk like to chew on aspen bark more than they like the leaves.......


And the trail cams attached to them.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

On the flip side, the rut usually gets triggered by a hard frost. And a hard frost is what will start changing the colors of the leaves. So while leaf color and the rut are not connected directly, they are both triggered by a drop in temperature. So there's that.


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

MadHunter said:


> by the emoji I am going to assume you didn't take it personally it wasn't a stab at you but, more our way (at least mine) of saying I can't answer the actual question about nutritional value and security and cover. So... we resort to our natural talents of making humor. During hunting season all that matters is the rut so we tend to ignore everything else and focus on the elk alone. The elk focus on the cows and forget everything else.


No offense taken at all. In my circle of friends the more verbal abuse you can dish on one-another the better.


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

Critter said:


> Also while elk will eat leaves most of their diet is grasses.
> 
> How often do you see elk reaching up into the aspens getting leaves? They will browse on the young one but most of the leaves are out of their reach.


In my understanding the elk like to eat destroy the young aspens and a healthy aspen forest has aspens in all stages of generation from young to mature and in between. So I have always focused on the aspen forests with parks adjacent to them. I have never hunted a rut yet, so this will be the closest I get to it. I think that the season ends 9/13.

I am confident I can find a cow or spike to kill in my unit, but just looking to change up the experience a bit. I figure the more knowledge I have going in the better the experience.

Thanks again.


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## RemingtonCountry (Feb 17, 2016)

Steve, you are correct.

For instance, in the Arizona unit that I am hunting elk in this year. There was a LARGE burn in the unit around 6 years ago, and the elk HAMMERED the young aspens. So much so that AZGFD issued almost double the tags to cull the elk to help the aspen regeneration efforts the last few years.

P.S. - It's nice to see someone with a sense of humor react so well!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Now that I think about it, green aspen vs. yellow aspen leaves is like a Granny Smith apple vs. a Golden Delicous apple.


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

RemingtonCountry said:


> Steve, you are correct.
> 
> For instance, in the Arizona unit that I am hunting elk in this year. There was a LARGE burn in the unit around 6 years ago, and the elk HAMMERED the young aspens. So much so that AZGFD issued almost double the tags to cull the elk to help the aspen regeneration efforts the last few years.
> 
> P.S. - It's nice to see someone with a sense of humor react so well!


Same thing is happened in the unit I hunt, along with an eight foot tall fence around some new aspen stands to exclude the elk.


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

Steve G said:


> In my understanding the elk like to eat destroy the young aspens and a healthy aspen forest has aspens in all stages of generation from young to mature and in between. So I have always focused on the aspen forests with parks adjacent to them. I have never hunted a rut yet, so this will be the closest I get to it. I think that the season ends 9/13.
> 
> I am confident I can find a cow or spike to kill in my unit, but just looking to change up the experience a bit. I figure the more knowledge I have going in the better the experience.
> 
> Thanks again.


There is a lot of chatter about this from pro wolf people up in Yellowstone. They claim that the reduction of the elk heard by the wolf has allowed a lot of tree species, especially aspen, to rebound and increase in health.

I also read an article about 2 years ago that some of Colorado's large aspen groves are actually shrinking and unhealthy due to high elk population.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

MadHunter said:


> ... the reduction of the elk heard ... has allowed a lot of tree species, especially aspen, to rebound and increase in health.
> 
> ... some of Colorado's large aspen groves are actually shrinking and unhealthy due to high elk population.


Cattlemen everywhere are raising their glasses in a toast.....with wolf activists.


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

PBH said:


> Cattlemen everywhere are raising their glasses in a toast.....with wolf activists.


For the record... I just passed along some info I read. Not a supporter of the pro wolf folks, but that's a discussion for another thread.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

MadHunter said:


> There is a lot of chatter about this from pro wolf people up in Yellowstone. They claim that the reduction of the elk heard by the wolf has allowed a lot of tree species, especially aspen, to rebound and increase in health.
> 
> I also read an article about 2 years ago that some of Colorado's large aspen groves are actually shrinking and unhealthy due to high elk population.


Yea. The claims for YNP are laughable at best. They love to credit the wolf and ignore the impacts of the '88 fire. Aspen loves fire. And is the first thing to come back after a fire. Fire management does more to invigorate aspen than elk populations (big or small) ever could. So there's that. And even the park biologist that initially credited the trophic cascade impact of the wolves and riparian restoration has renounced that assertion. Yet it lives on in the interwebs. What a tangled web we weave as they say.


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## tmac (Feb 19, 2012)

Cattleman never have and never will raise their glasses in toast with wolf lovers


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

tmac said:


> Cattleman never have and never will raise their glasses in toast with wolf lovers


What does this remotely have to do with the O.P.?


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> What does this remotely have to do with the O.P.?


OP was curious about the nutritional value of aspen leaves.
Elk utilize the colored aspen leaves, leaving little left for cattle.
Wolves eat elk.
Fewer elk = more color-turned aspen leaves with nutrional value for cattle.
Cattle grazing on high-nutrition orange / gold aspen leaves bring higher price at market.
Higher price at market brings more champagne to cattlemen.
Champagne is a favorite of wolf-lovers.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Now that's funny!^^^^^^^^^^^^^


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

Amazing logic...simply amazing!!! :hail:


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

PBH said:


> OP was curious about the nutritional value of aspen leaves.
> Elk utilize the colored aspen leaves, leaving little left for cattle.
> Wolves eat elk.
> Fewer elk = more color-turned aspen leaves with nutrional value for cattle.
> ...


This shows how you can justify just about anything.

I know I'm a little late to the party but to answer the O.P.s question.
I don't think elk stay in the aspens for nutrition when the leaves are turning but it's more about the safety and shelter factor. Elk can see through the aspen trees really good and scent travels well through them too. Never approach an Aspen grove with the wind at your back or you'll never see the elk before they're long gone.


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

RemingtonCountry said:


> Steve, you are correct.
> 
> For instance, in the Arizona unit that I am hunting elk in this year. There was a LARGE burn in the unit around 6 years ago, and the elk HAMMERED the young aspens. So much so that AZGFD issued almost double the tags to cull the elk to help the aspen regeneration efforts the last few years.
> 
> P.S. - It's nice to see someone with a sense of humor react so well!


Okay, all I want to know is what unit? 27?


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## RemingtonCountry (Feb 17, 2016)

goosefreak said:


> Okay, all I want to know is what unit? 27?


Nope, 7E!

Directly from azgfd.com:
"Elk densities in unit 7 and particularly in 7-E have been reduced over the past 12 years due to concerns over aspen regeneration. The lowest number of permits offered in 7-E occurred in 2006, but permit numbers have been increasing due to higher calf crops and above guideline bull ratios."

Don't ask me why i'm an idiot and put this as a second choice unit........


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

Those burn areas are gonna be hot.


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