Cache Valley residents interact with wildlife
Staying occupied in Logan during the winter months can be a challenge. For those struggling to find new activities, Hardware Ranch provides a chance to see wildlife up close.
Hardware Ranch is a 14,000-acre Wildlife Management Area that is open to the public, except for 800 acres used to feed Elk during the winter. However, visitors may go on a horse-drawn wagon ride through this area for an up-close encounter with hundreds of these elk.
The land was purchased by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in 1946 with the purpose of providing a place for wintering elk to go, according to Northern Region Outreach program manager Phil Douglass.
“At that time, they purchased the ranch to keep peace with the farmers and ranchers in Cache Valley,” Douglass said. “The elk-feeding operation began for the purpose of keeping big game animals, especially elk, out of haystacks, residential areas and highways.”
The wildlife began to be open to the public in the 1950s. Douglass said the people who were running the operation at the time decided they would start bringing people on the hay wagon with them to watch as they fed the elk. Today, the tradition continues for a minimal fee.
“It’s a unique experience that’s difficult to replicate,” said ranch manager Brad Hunt. “We’re close to the Wasatch Front, right in the heart of Cache Valley. It’s a fun way to do something during the winter to get out of the smog and inversion that we get boxed into sometimes. You take a trip up here and actually get to see the sun shine.”
Hunt said it is a rare opportunity to be able to view elk up close.
“Elk are very aware and sensitive to what goes on in their environment, and they are very difficult to get that close to,” Hunt said. “Yet we can get you within 10 or 20 feet of them.”
Austin Hanny, a junior studying finance and economics, said he enjoys looking at the elk and the wagon ride makes for a good date.
“It’s cool being that close to the elk and being able to experience their size and awesomeness first hand,” Hanny said. “It’s pretty fun riding the sleigh out to the feeding grounds too.”
Depending on the day, Douglass said visitors see anywhere from 400 to 700 elk in the meadow and more when the conditions are right.
“The thing that really affects how many are here is weather,” Douglass said. “The very cold temperatures combined with snow, usually those are the years we see numbers into the six and seven hundreds.”
The many generations of elk are now accustomed to the wagons and know there is no danger to them as long as the people stay in the wagon, he said.
“They are wild animals,” Douglass said. “There’s nothing that makes them come down other than their memory that tells them this is a good place to go to get a free meal.”
Douglass said one of their wagon drivers told him about an experience that had affected him when a mother and daughter who came to see the elk. The daughter was blind. The mother said because her daughter was blind, she had highly developed her other senses.
The driver directed the wagon into the middle of the elk, as is customary, where it stopped to let passengers get a good look at the elk and ask questions. While they were stopped, an elk came up to the blind girl, nuzzled her arm that was hanging outside the wagon and stood there to let her touch it.
“When we say that Hardware Ranch is a place where you can make a connection with wildlife, for this person, that was something she wasn’t able to see but she was literally able to feel,” Douglass said.
He said it was a very special moment for the girl and her mother, as well as everyone on the wagon who watched. He said they were amazed because it was a wild animal.
“That was the most meaningful experience that he had, and he has had a lot of meaningful experiences,” Douglass said. “It really does bring people close to wildlife and makes the connection with people and wildlife, but it also strengthens their family and friendship relationships. It’s just a great family and wildlife tradition.”
Hardware Ranch is located in Hyrum, Utah, about 18 miles up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Wagon rides run Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday until the end of February.
Twitter: @chelseahunter4