RMEF Team Elk- John Day River Headwaters Acquisition

Opening morning of archery elk season. This is the day that every elk hunter plans for and dreams about from the minute the sun sets on the final day. Opening day last year, public land hunters like me and my dad weren’t able to access this land because it was privately owned…but the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation changed all of that.

Snuggled between two wilderness areas in the icy-cold headwaters of the John Day River, 13,000 acres of privately held timberlands is now forever protected and open for all to hunt, hike, fish and explore.

The project created an unbroken expanse of 150,000 acres connecting the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness on the west border to the Monument Rock Wilderness on the

east border of prime elk habitat. This is a project that every public land hunter stands to benefit from with the area holding the most Boone & Crockett entries for typical Rocky Mountain Elk in the state.

This is the story of the first public land hunt in the John Day headwaters acquisition. Stay tuned for season 5 of RMEF’s Team Elk airing on the Outdoor Channel.