Almost every Alaska elk record traces back to Afognak and Raspberry Islands, near Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. Roosevelt elk were transplanted there from Washington state in 1928, and that introduced herd is still the state’s only established population. Records tied to Denali or the boreal forest around Fairbanks are outliers, well outside where elk actually live in Alaska.
The Kodiak-area herd behaves like Roosevelt elk anywhere on the Pacific coast: grazing meadows and forest openings, retreating into timber for cover, and following the seasons rather than staying put. Bulls grow and shed a full set of antlers every year, using them to spar and to hold a group of cows during the fall rut.
The records line up neatly with elk biology. May sightings likely catch cows near newborn calves, hidden in tall grass right after birth, while the October spike lines up with the rut, when bulls bugle and become far easier to spot and hear.
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