Feeding and Viewing Wild Elk & Big Horn Sheep
Washington winters can be hard on wildlife, and occasional feeding can make the difference for many animals or birds making it through the winter.
Feeding also reduces the chance that large animals near farms and ranches will damage or destroy orchards and/or other valuable crops. The elk herd near Yakima usually numbers around 9,500 animals. Statewide the elk herd is numbered around 57,000. During tough winters elk can do a lot of crop damage while they search for the nourishment they need to hang onto life until the new spring grasses appear to sustain them.
Oak Creek wildlife area covers roughly 50,000 acres with the visitor center located approximately 12 miles west of Yakima or 2 miles west of the junction of SR-12 & SR 410 on SR-12. Oak Creek land also adjoins The Nature Conservancy's 10,000-acre Tieton nature area. This area is adjacent to several orchards where the farmers and ranchers need cooperation from Fish and Wildlife personnel to maintain their fragile property. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife has chosen to feed the elk and big horn sheep that frequent this area and to offer public viewing of the process. The bighorn sheep feeding station is near the junction of SR-12 and the old Naches Highway. Statewide, bighorn sheep number approximately 750 animals.
The Oak Creek site has seven elk feeding stations operated by WDF&W and volunteers, where the animals are fed daily starting roughly mid December and lasting roughly until the early March, subject to weather conditions of a given year. The estimated elk population at the Oak Creek site is 3,600 with approximately 140 of the animals being mature bulls. Roughly 2 miles from Oak Creek WD F&W is the bighorn sheep feeding station just two hundred yards north of SR-12 where the highway Y's to go over White Pass. Sheep are normally fed mid morning, while the elk are fed at the main Oak Creed wildlife site around 1:30. The animals usually hang around for several hours and the public is invited to visit and watch from a fenced area from 9AM to 4PM. We saw roughly 1,200 elk at the feed station we visited at the Oak Creek headquarters plus more than 90 big horn sheep at their feed site two miles north of Oak Creek.
Tours are available where you can ride out using benches on the back of a truck and have John McGowan of WDF&W plus other knowledgeable volunteers explain the necessity of the program and answer questions about the animals.
In the fall the elk are hunted here, yet during the feeding season, they seem to recognize the feed trucks, personnel, time of year, etc. and are willing to come up close for easy photographing and viewing.
During our feeding tour I learned that these are Rocky Mountain elk, where mature bulls can weigh 700 pounds and live to be 15 years old. Female elk can reach 25 years. The elk in the Olympic Peninsula are typically Roosevelt elk and are somewhat larger with bulls reaching 900 pounds. Large bulls on site with their impressive antlers were quite impressive; however seeing some of the injured or weakened animals is what left a more indelible impression for me. Without feeding those animals could not survive the winter.
Feeding at the Oak Creek site costs roughly $900 per day.
Donations are quite important to maintaining the feeding program and can either be made on site or mailed: Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, 16601 Highway 12, Naches, WA. 98937. All donations received here go directly towards feeding the animals. If you wish to call for up to date feeding information, driving directions, or to schedule a feeding tour you can contact WDF&W at 509- 653-2390.
Visiting these feeding sites is a great way to see both elk and big horn sheep up close, in large numbers, plus get a real sense of how nature works.
I felt the visit was well worth the trip and left with an overall good feeling about the animal feeding program. I also enjoyed the passion the volunteers and resident Fish & Wildlife personnel had for the environment and their loving care to protect nature.
