Sure, there are plenty of other big-game animals in our neck of the woods, and we'll talk about those later. But the elk, bugling from across the meadow, herding his harem of cows, is the most sought-after big game in Greater Yellowstone. Besides being beautiful to behold, elk are elusive enough to require stalking and studying. And they live in country remote enough to make the hunt a challenge. Elk hunters not only have to exert themselves physically, but they also have to learn something about the wapiti to find him, then think like an elk to outsmart him.
Elk also make good eating.
The meat is high on flavor, low in cholesterol and untainted by food additives. Having a freezer full of wild game is so much a way of life for many people in Yellowstone country that they can't rest until they've filled that freezer. In small rural towns where the economies have always been depressed, the wild game that haunts the nearby hills is insurance against lean times. Often dependent on seasonal work, people may not be able to pay their bills through the winter months, but their families won't go hungry when meat is so close at hand, especially if they've also raised and put up a big garden during the summer. And bugling in a bull elk carries its own thrill.