Visitors crowded around the cows, taking pictures of the bull and calling to it. He finally returned to the other side of the river, away from the cows. Sometimes the elk don't seem bothered at all. As many as 5,000 people might line a road in northern Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park to watch and listen to bulls bugling. So far, those hordes of people haven't seemed to disturb the elk too much.
Late autumn is also a time when elk often seek dense cover to hide from hunters.
If their range has been heavily logged, studies indicate that the elk often will remain in whatever areas haven't been cut, even if the forage is inadequate. If hunters can gain access into wild areas on logging roads, the elk might be pushed farther from their feeding areas as they search for cover. Recognizing this, wildlife management agencies and timber companies sometimes close or limit access to logging roads during the hunting season. State and federal agencies are working with timber companies to lessen other impacts of logging on wildlife habitat. For example, they are beginning to cut trees in more selective ways that help preserve resources for elk and other wildlife.