Hardware Ranch brings research opportunities to students
In Cache Valley, it sometimes gets old breathing in inversions and for some USU students Hardware Ranch is one place to escape and enjoy wildlife and nature.
Shoat Roath, a senior dual-majoring in agricultural systems technology and agribusiness, has worked at the ranch for four winters. He began as a freshman and mostly works driving horse-drawn sleighs and feeding the elk.
“I get to work with horses, look at elk and talk to people all day long,” Roath said. “Very few students know about it, but it’s an awesome place to get out of the inversions. There are also very few places you can get this close to wild elk.”
Allison Baadsgaard, a senior in speech pathology, volunteers with Roath driving teams at the ranch.
“I like the draft horses a lot and seeing the elk is just a perk,” Baadsgaard said. “I’ve learned a lot about them.”
The ranch’s renown is recognized both by locals and outside Cache Valley. Junior Shawn Pendleton, a Salt Lake City native studying exercise science at USU, remembers his family’s annual tradition of climbing in the car on Super Bowl Sunday and driving for almost two and a half hours to get to the ranch.
“When I was little, I would go hunting and fishing with my family, and we’d see animals from far away,” Pendleton said. “But to hop on the sleigh and go out and be up close and personal with the wild elk – just being a few feet from a big bull elk – was something I always liked.”
Pendleton said after a few times, his aunts and uncles joined the group. He said they continued the trip as a family until he was 15, but he and his siblings still make an effort to go when they can.
Assistant manager Marni Lee said there are about 300 to 600 Rocky Mountain elk on the ranch each year, depending on the severity of the weather.
Lee has worked at the ranch for eight years and lives there year-round.
“My favorite part is probably the education program – those moments when people learn something they didn’t know about,” Lee said. “And watching the elk is fun, too.”
Lee said 25,000 to 35,000 people visit the ranch each winter, but most new visitors hear about Hardware Ranch through word of mouth.
“We’re state-run, and we don’t have a big budget to advertise,” Lee said. “Donation money stays here at the ranch, but money spent on rides and things goes back to the state fund.”
Lee said the ranch was originally purchased by the state of Utah in 1945 to pacify farmers who disliked the elk coming into Cache Valley to find food. The feeding program was soon implemented at Hardware Ranch, eliminating the need for elk to migrate into the valley during the winter.
“These elk go through about 300 tons of feed in the winter,” Val Carter, a driver for Hardware ranch, said. “They sit out here and eat all day long.”
Carter said it’s hard to keep track of the elk from year to year. The male elk, called bulls, get their first horns when they are about 1. After that, the horns vary depending on the particular elk’s stress and genetics. The horns are the fastest growing tissue on the elk.
“Elk will lose their horns in March, but they’ll be back in 90 days,” Carter said.
Carter said the ranch will sometimes tag the elk with different colors each year to keep track of them.
Kelly Pitcher, an information technician at the ranch, said many USU master’s and doctorate students use the ranch and its resources for their work.
“This is probably the most studied elk herd in the world because of USU students,” Pitcher said. “Some studies have checked the cows (female elk) for tuberculosis and measured their weight and size during pregnancy.”
Pitcher said in addition to big game studies, students examine other parts of the ranch, like water temperature, the effects of beaver dams on water temperature and spider populations.
Depending on weather conditions, Hardware Ranch is open for visitors from mid-December to late February. It’s located in Blacksmith Fork Canyon near Hyrum, Utah. For those who wish to see the elk up close, sleigh rides are offered from 12-5 p.m. on Fridays and Mondays or 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets for rides cost $5 for adults (ages 9 and up), $3 for children (ages 4-8) and are free for babies and toddlers.
– m.noble@aggiemail.usu.edu