Exploring Apacheria | The Land once Roamed by the Merriam’s Elk

[@edgarb.9176]

Wild horses in my part of the Navajo Reservation have greatly impacted the deer, antelope, and elk populations. People like to see these animals but do not understand how much they impact other animals. The Navajo once offered tags for these horses but were met with so much opposition they cancelled all the tags and the hunt. Happy hunting Randy and thanks for all the terrific content.

[@DaMoose13]

The same thing is happening in Western Colorado!

[@scott729]

One of your best productions, IMO. Beautiful country and good friends and family. I live in Ohio, and haven't been in elk country since 2015. BR-549 intends to go this coming year, whether over the counter, or by draw.... my friend and I are heading West. Thanks Randy and Co.

[@jonathanethelbah768]

Always like watching your hunts, I’m actually Apache from the white mountain reservation

[@leroyjones769]

I LOVE that place

[@brandonkending7920]

Great video Randy! I love the history lesson mixed in with some great hunting

[@tomgensel4134]

Thanks for the memories 👍

[@GinaLarsen-xe9cr]

Another great video! Thanks for the trip!

[@terrybyrd4386]

I just finished taking a high school friend, elk hunting for his first hunt. 1st season Colorado elk only is usually warm weather. He got to see heards of elk in private, yet no cows that we could hunt in public land. The last day, we have a 5 point bull in our lap, still no cow. He and I enjoyed lunch the last day with my friend hunting with his older brother, nephews, and their kids. The 3 generations and us telling stories and sharing time together meant so much more than just hunting. He, at 66 years old, realized how rear and special those times are!!!

[@johndrouillard1599]

Thanks Randy!! One of my all time favorite videos. Please do more like this. I was sad when it ended!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Appreciate the kind words! Many more stories to share this fall. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@OBradAllen]

One of your best stories yet!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Appreciate it! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.

[@MrBowNaxe]

Another great one Randy. Hunting with Matthew is always going to be a memorable one and who doesn't get excited when Scotty Jones is in camp! My dad harvested a huge 7x7 near San Carlos in 1972. That euro mount still hangs on the garage. Can't wait to see what's next.

[@annmurphy5507]

Awesome history lesson!!

[@wilberfifer5563]

You understand the true meaning of the hunt, Being with people you care about not just getting an animal. With age comes wisdom!

[@petercalibo1951]

Great job. Making memories. Thanks for the video

[@haroldbleemel8537]

Like you, I never get to hunt with my son enough these days. Great video even without getting an elk.

[@sterlingwilkey2124]

Awesome story Randy

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Thank you! Thanks for tuning in.

[@IanKeever-b7z]

This is an awesome film.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@hearstdaman2269]

Oofda! Very enjoyable!

[@GregCollard-cq5yg]

Excellent. Movie theater stuff. Thanks guys. 🇺🇲💪

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Much appreciated!

[@Shamagantu]

You go dis way and I go dat way? No, I go dis way, you go dat way! - Canadian hunters

[@user-lp1tz3nm5x]

I am so glad that im not the only one who has been thinking that some of these so called "extinct" species of elk are really gone. We hunt Unit 15 in the SW area of NM. A few years back one of the guys I go hunting with came across 3 bull elk. To this day he swears one of the bulls was a monster like he has never seen before in his many years of hunting with an incredibly beautiful redish coat he had never seen before. Now obviously I cant say for sure, but it is a nice thought for sure that these animals can still exist somewhere.

[@DjSubia]

Good Stuff Randy Bud! 🌵🦌,,..,,🌲

[@moneyandtimefreedom3352]

Most people have no idea how big this part of AZ is and how rugged it is. It’s most likely the Meriams elk did not get killed off and that the genes, although mixed with the elk brought in from Wyoming are expressed and visible through the antlers on occasion. Rugged, steel is an understatement and the reservations San Carlos and White Mountain have very few roads and to hunt you must get drawn and have a guide from the tribe. There are many bulls that grow old and die without ever seeing a human.

[@jeffreywilson690]

Maybe the state will start selling a horse tag in that unit, that is some great meat

[@overlordbear8505]

You should have taken one of those wild horses home as a consolation prize lol. They are a delicacy in France. JK however this is another great video from the fresh tracks crew.

[@TSBURNONE]

It would be awesome to see Randy hunt on the WMAT.

[@joshw2412]

Our hunting areas have been getting so much pressure and over hunting not only that the wolves they introduced many years ago

[@LiveBassFishing]

Now you are in my stomping grounds. I live in Show Low.

[@ves5110]

great video: hunting is always fun and rewarding; even if you don't fill your tag; thats hunting

[@Fresh_Tracks]

100% agree with that! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@angelopedretti83]

Hey you showed your from Minnesota when said uffda looking at that rub! 😂

[@renna-o7s]

Your videos are always so inspiring! I look forward to seeing more episodes! ✨🍓

[@shawnfigari3657]

Great video. There is a lot of debate on whether the Merriams was a real subspecies because so little evidence of them exist. I believe Jim Heffelfinger is conducting a study on just this topic.

[@michaelpeddie5689]

That’s home. Grandpas got a merriams euro on the wall. If I remember correctly it’s 200+

[@daviddemand6856]

I no longer blanket trust in “experts”, but believe in Randy’s theory that Merriam Elk may exist in the reservation. Wild horse meat could feed a lot of people and offer up an additional revenue stream for conservation management through hunting them.

[@MrBowNaxe]

Canada and several other countries eat horses. I think it's a good idea for something besides dog food.

[@DR-ro7dw]

@@MrBowNaxe No we don’t eat horses but we do sell domestic horses to places like Japan. We have some wild horses in Alberta but I think they are protected to some degree.

[@jaydunbar7538]

@@DR-ro7dw some do, same as in the US. It’s just not something people have bumper stickers for so your neighbor could be eating horse roasts every night and you would never know. Born and raised in a small town and had no idea a local butcher carried horse meat and always had until it came up in a conversation about eating odd things. And by small town 450 people, not that “I live in a small town of 250,000” nonsense lol

[@joehewitson2000]

Great video as always sir! Love the Outro Riff too!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

We love the outro too! Appreciate you watching and leaving a comment, thanks!

[@ericgardner7579]

where can someone order those chopper mits. great video, just in time before i leave for colorado 2nd rifle. idaho got the best of me in september. hoping to redeem myself in colorado.

[@jdalley5192]

My son in law and I have late season Malay Gap tags in the San Carlos, this Dec. Is that the border you were against? Wanna tag along?

[@acmund]

A cattle rancher, that has wild horses on his land, told me that a horse eats more than a cow. That's a lot of forage.

[@isaacmartinez3921]

Yup, horses have both top and bottom incisors and have a less efficient digestive system. Cattle have only bottom incisors with a 4 chambered stomach, making their digestive system more efficient. Therefore horses need to eat more to get the same results and can kill grasses easier because they'll eat all the way down to the crown of the plant.

[@foureightnine4894]

Time to take this land back for real Americans

[@GarrettGalloway-c8h]

Big hank😂

[@89pockets]

id say pure bread miriams no but is there some dna from what few suvivors coulda been around quite possibly

[@matthewortiz234]

I know of a few being killed in the last 40 years

[@carnakthemagnificent336]

Really like these videos, but had the Apache continued their "sustainable" live another 200 years, there would be no discussion. Had the Apache had the weapons of the British or Spanish, they would have dominated far beyond the American Southwest.

[@grampathecleveradviser5461]

There be feral horsesin All the western states exept California. Because they aint stupid.

[@carlosm.lozano6402]

But yet you're enjoying your hunt and family experiences at the expense of the Indigenous who lived off of those lands before the Anglos took it from them, good job 👍