ARE WE THERE YET?

Along the Buffalo is where Arkansas elk roam

Elk are arrayed on a November afternoon in a meadow adjacent to Arkansas 43 in Boxley Valley along Buffalo National River.
Elk are arrayed on a November afternoon in a meadow adjacent to Arkansas 43 in Boxley Valley along Buffalo National River.

PONCA -- On a sunny mid-November afternoon in Boxley Valley, a sightseeing couple from Little Rock spotted exactly what they were seeking and eagerly pulled over.

This was not just another herd of cows along Arkansas 43 in Newton County. These were elk, two dozen of them, relaxing in the shade at the edge of a meadow.

It was a lucky sighting, given the midday hour, when these sizable members of the deer family tend to seclude themselves in the cooler setting of denser foliage. It also was living proof of an amazing wildlife success story in the Natural State.

More than 600 elk dwell these days along Buffalo National River, a 2 1/2-hour drive north of Little Rock. The reason this population is so remarkable is that no elk were to be found anywhere in Arkansas for nearly a century.

It's true that the Buffalo River elk are a long way from their genetic home. The original Arkansas species that thrived here before the arrival of Europeans is thought to have died out by the 1840s due mainly to the clearing of land and hunting.

So the elk that fortunate travelers see today, most likely around dawn or dusk, are imports from the Rocky Mountain region. They're a subspecies from Colorado, brought to Arkansas in 1981 in exchange for catfish from the Natural State.

There had been two 20th-century efforts to populate Arkansas with elk from the Rockies, but both failed. The third try succeeded, as can be learned at Ponca Elk Education Center, operated by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Opened in 2002, the center overlooking Ponca Creek features a wraparound deck equipped with rustic log benches and rockers as well as bird feeders. An easy trail along the creek invites hiking.

Indoor exhibits do a thorough job of telling the Arkansas elk story. Thanks to taxidermy, visitors can have a close-up look at a bull with impressive antlers, as well as an adult female with her calf. There's also a black bear.

Hands-on displays include elk antlers and hooves, and pelts, hides, skulls and feathers from assorted other species. It's possible to touch a swatch of the soft and pliable "velvet" that covers antlers in spring and summer. Pressing a button starts a recording of the surprisingly high-pitched bugling calls made by bulls during the fall mating period.

The bulls stand as tall at 5 feet and weigh 600 to 800 pounds. That explains this warning to visitors:

"Watching the Arkansas elk from close range is an incredible experience. But remember, these are wild animals and can be very unpredictable. The bulls, when rutting, can become agitated and sometimes will charge a potential threat. It's not a pretty thought when you have a 700-plus-pound animal with 4 feet of antlers bearing down on you."

There has been an Arkansas hunting season for elk since 1998. The coveted free permits, 28 for this year, are drawn by lot at the Buffalo River Elk Festival in Jasper each June from among several thousand applicants.

The 10-day season takes place in October. So the only legal shooting of elk around here for the rest of this year will be the photographs taken by camera-toting sightseers.

Ponca Elk Education Center, on Arkansas 43 a quarter-mile north of the Arkansas 74 intersection, is open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Thursday-Monday. Admission is free. Call (870) 861-2432 or visit poncaeec.com.

Weekend on 12/11/2014

Upcoming Events