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Elk and Bighorn Sheep Feeding - Oak Creek Wildlife Area

Eyes on elk numbers: Declining herd arriving at winter feeding sites - Yakima Herald - Jan 23, 2020

The Oak Creek Wildlife Area is managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. A supplemental winter feeding program maintains the Yakima elk herd on department lands during the winter; up to 1,200 elk, including about 90 branched-antlered bulls, can be seen at feeding times.

Recognized primarily as winter range for elk, its multipurpose acreage insures permanent populations of fish, elk, deer, bear, chukar, partridge, quail, grouse, and hundreds of other species. in addition, the wildlife area preserves many miles of stream bank access for fishermen. The Oak Creek Wildlife Area was originally purchased with funds obtained from sportsmen through the Federal Pittman-Robinson Act and established in 1939.  More recent acquisitions have been funded by grants awarded by The Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund authorized by Section 6 of the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, and state funded grant sources through the Recreation and Conservation Office.

When snow blankets the Cascade mountains, the elk are forced to migrate to the foothills to find food. Here, they come into conflict with man, whose orchards, ranches, and homes occupy land that the elk need for winter range. Wintering elk may eat from 3 to 10 pounds of hay per day at the feeding stations, most of which is grown and purchased from Washington farmers. During a severe winter, as many as 8,000 elk may use feeding areas. Elk begin arriving as early as mid-November, with the largest part of the herd arriving in January.

Visit Etiquette

You can help maintain and protect the wildlife viewing areas by:

1. Keeping your campsite clean and removing your litter
2. Driving only on designated open roads
3. Leaving wildlife alone, especially during critical wintering periods and during the spring when females are having their young.
4. Respecting this Wildlife Area and the wildlife on it as if it were your own.

During Visitor Center opening hours (9-4), staff and volunteers can give you more information on the tours and about road closures to protect wintering wildlife throughout the wildlife area.

Rocky Mountain Elk Facts

Rocky Mountain Elk were introduced into Yakima County in 1913.

Winter Feeding Station activities

History of the Rocky Mountain Elk in Yakima County

In 1913 a group of landowners, sportsmen and Yakima County officials introduced Rocky Mountain elk from Yellowstone National Park to the Yakima area of eastern Washington. Unlike the Roosevelt elk of the Olympic Peninsula, Rocky Mountain elk are migratory by nature and may travel as much as 70 miles from the spring-to-fall habitat in the upper-elevations of the Cascades to their wintering areas at lower elevations.

In the mid-1940s, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (then the Department of Game) began the early stages of the wildlife area by building almost 100 miles of 8-foot-high fences to keep the elk from damaging agricultural crops in the Tieton, Naches, and Wenas Creek valleys, as well as on the south side of the Kittitas Valley.

In 1939, the department established the Oak Creek Wildlife Area to preserve winter homes for the Yakima elk herd of 3,000. Lands initially purchased were primarily recognized as elk herd winter range. Now, the 67,100 acre Oak Creek Wildlife Area consists of high elevation conifer forest, mesic mixed conifer forest, sparsely timbered dry forest, and grassy foothills. The diversity of habitat supports a plethora of other wildlife as well.

View 360° Panoramic Photo of the Elk Feeding Station

Elk Behavior throughout the Year

Spring: As the snows melt in the spring, the elk follow the snowline to higher elevations. The bulls gradually separate from the herd and lose their antlers in March and April. Rodents eat the shed antlers, unless they are found soon after shedding by a lucky hiker. To reduce harassment to the elk, some lands are closed to public entry during the March-April period.

Summer: Cows and calves form groups that are led by older cows. Calves are born in May and June, about the same time the bulls begin to grow new antlers. Elk feed on grasses and sedges that grow in the meadows through the short summer. This nutritious feed helps the cows provide milk for growing calves and fattens the adult elk for the leaner months of winter.

Fall: During late September and October, the bulls rejoin the cows and calves for the mating season or "rut". At this time, the high country rings with the sound of bulls bugling, whistling, and barking in competition for cows. As days shorten with the advance of the season and snow returns to the high country, the elk once again migrate to lower elevations, where you'll be able to see them once the snow falls at the feeding stations.

Rocky Mountain & California Bighorn Sheep Facts

Bighorn sheep are medium-sized, stout ungulates. Rocky Mountain sheep are larger than the California sub species.

Rocky Mountain - Adult male - 160-316 lb. (72.6-143.3 kg)
California – Adult male - 181-205 lb. (82.1-93.0 kg)

Bighorn (all sub-species) -Adult Male - 128–315 lb. (58–143 kg)
Bighorn (all sub-species) - Adult female - 75–201 lb. (34–91 kg)

Bighorn sheep can live to 17 years of age, but general life expectancy for both sub-species is 10 to 12 years.

Lambs

• Born in May and June
• Weigh about 7 to 10 lbs.
• Gestation period for ewes is approximately 180 days
• Twins do occur

Horns

• Both rams and ewes have horns
• Horns are curled on older rams, short and pointed on ewes
• Never fall off and continue to grow through sheep's lifetime
• Annulus, or dark band, shows one year's growth

History of Bighorn Sheep in Yakima County

Rocky Mountain and California bighorn sheep both exist in Washington State. Both are native to the state but disappeared in the 1930s. The exact reason for their demise is unknown, but we suspect the cause to be the transmission of disease and parasites from domestic sheep. Other contributing factors may have been excessive harvest and increasing human encroachment.

In 1957, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife brought California Bighorn Sheep from British Columbia and placed them on the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area in Okanogan County. An additional herd of California Bighorn Sheep, now about 200 in number, was established in the Cleman Mountain area through the efforts of area sportsmen, who brought sheep from British Columbia in 1967, thus restoring sheep to their native range in the state. Recent surveys indicate that there are approximately 650 California bighorns throughout Washington State and the population is increasing.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep are found in northeast and southeast Washington. There are currently about 200 Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in Washington State and their numbers are rising. Restoration of both varieties of these sheep to their historic range in the State of Washington is a wildlife success story.

High elevation sheep habitat similar to that found in the Rocky Mountain states does not exist in the State of Washington, but the sheep do very well in the lower elevation area of Cleman Mountain, where they live on grasses and shrubs and occupy open timber areas.

During the winter months, rams and ewes of all ages congregate at the Cleman Mountain feeding station. In the spring, the older rams separate into bachelor groups. Also in spring, the young rams (1-1/2 to 3 years of age) remain close, although separated, from the ewes and lambs. Once the lambs are born, these young rams become castoffs. The herd now will consist of the ewes, newborns, and the previous year's offspring. Mature rams do not rejoin the herd until the breeding season in early November. As winter sets in, the sheep seek sun-warmed, lower elevation, southern-facing slopes where snow accumulation is lightest.

Both rams and ewes grow horns that are not shed but continue to grow throughout the animal's life. Ewes' horns are small and pointed; rams' horns are larger and curl. It may take a ram 7 to 8 years to develop a full curl. A dark band, called an annulus, forms each year on the horns during mating season. By counting these bands, it is possible to closely estimate the animal's age.

Bighorn sheep are well adapted to living on rocky slopes and existing on little water - making do on sedges - and are attracted to mineral and salt licks.

Viewing and photographic opportunities exist at the Cleman Mountain winter feeding station where up to 150 sheep congregate during feeding times. The Cleman feeding station is accessible in the winter and is located a half mile east of the junction of Highways 410 and 12 on the Old Naches Highway.

Cleman Mountain bighorn sheep tests positive for lethal bacteria - October 20, 2020

For more information, visit these websites:

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife - Oak Creek Unit & Cowiche Unit
Department of Fish and Wildlife Yakima office
1701 South 24th Avenue
Yakima, WA 98902-5720
(509) 575-2740

Oak Creek Manager - Greg Mackey

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Our thanks to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife for sharing the information above.

Pictures of the Big Horn Sheep, courtesy Ross Huffman, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Last updated January 6, 2021