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Elk are highly adaptable to many and varied habitats, but generally prefer large green meadows for feeding, with nearby forests (usually hardwoods) for shelter.<ref name=rmeffaq/> Elk tend to displace other members of the deer family, especially the white-tailed deer, wherever they roam or are reintroduced.

Elk are highly adaptable to many and varied habitats, but generally prefer large green meadows for feeding, with nearby forests (usually hardwoods) for shelter.<ref name=rmeffaq/> Elk tend to displace other members of the deer family, especially the white-tailed deer, wherever they roam or are reintroduced.

Elk once roamed freely throughout the northeastern and western United States. However, over-hunting and population pressure caused extinction of the eastern subspecies of elk in 1869. Originally, ten million elk were present in North America; that population dwindled to 100,000 by 1907. Today most game management departments and conservation experts estimate that from 500,000 to 750,000 elk live in North America today<ref name=Keck1/>, though some estimate that the elk population might now be as high as one million.<ref name=rmeffaq/><ref name=Pennsylvania>Beginning in 1921, Pennsylvania foresters re-introduced Rocky Mountain elk into a circumscribed region in western Pennsylvania. Many false starts followed, including one tragic year in which an enraged farmer systematically killed forty elk in a single year. Today the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission estimates that seven hundred elk live in Pennsylvania today. Other eastern States have tried to re-introduce elk into their lands, but Pennsylvania has enjoyed incomparable success.</ref>

Elk once roamed freely throughout the northeastern and western United States. However, over-hunting and population pressure caused extinction of the eastern subspecies of elk in 1869. Originally, ten million elk were present in North America; that population dwindled to 100,000 by 1907. Today most game management departments and conservation experts estimate that from 500,000 to 750,000 elk live in North America today,<ref name=Keck1/> though some estimate that the elk population might now be as high as one million.<ref name=rmeffaq/><ref name=Pennsylvania>Beginning in 1921, Pennsylvania foresters re-introduced Rocky Mountain elk into a circumscribed region in western Pennsylvania. Many false starts followed, including one tragic year in which an enraged farmer systematically killed forty elk in a single year. Today the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission estimates that seven hundred elk live in Pennsylvania today. Other eastern States have tried to re-introduce elk into their lands, but Pennsylvania has enjoyed incomparable success.</ref>

The largest threat that elk pose to man is crop destruction. Elk are voracious eaters and love to graze. Most authorities, like those in Pennsylvania, have achieved their elk management goals by planting "crops" of the favorite foods of the elk in meadows. Though a bull elk is quite capable of destroying a vehicle, elk have not generally been known to kill humans. Though an elk, especially a bull, can kill a man easily, elk will run from danger rather than fight&mdash;and because a bull elk can usually crash his way out of danger through any obstacle, cornering an elk is very difficult and indeed almost impossible.

The largest threat that elk pose to man is crop destruction. Elk are voracious eaters and love to graze. Most authorities, like those in Pennsylvania, have achieved their elk management goals by planting "crops" of the favorite foods of the elk in meadows. Though a bull elk is quite capable of destroying a vehicle, elk have not generally been known to kill humans. Though an elk, especially a bull, can kill a man easily, elk will run from danger rather than fight&mdash;and because a bull elk can usually crash his way out of danger through any obstacle, cornering an elk is very difficult and indeed almost impossible.

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==See Also==

==See also==

* [[Hunting]] with:

* [[Hunting]] with:

** [[Firearm]]s: [[Handgun]], [[Shotgun]] and [[Rifle]]

** [[Firearm]]s: [[Handgun]], [[Shotgun]] and [[Rifle]]