Hunters must be mindful of elks\u2019 keen sense of smell, but at least one curious cow elk in the Greys River area of Teton County is undeterred by residual human and horse scent at a game camera site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Video taken by the camera shows the cow elk \u2014 missing about half of one of her ears \u2014 walking right up to the camera, sticking her face into the lens and snuffing away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am nicknaming her \u2018van Gogh\u2019 for her missing ear,\u201d Teton County resident Lacelynn Seibel, who set the camera up, told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a reference to famed 19th\u00a0century artist Vincent van Gogh, who sliced off part of his own ear.<\/p>\n
Making Scents Of It All<\/p>\n
An avid archery hunter, Seibel has been observing the Greys River herd since she moved to Teton County about three years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was somewhat concerned about how good her trail camera footage would be this season, because she left a lot of scent at the site when she installed the trail camera. \u00a0<\/p>\n
She rode her horse into the site and \u201cit\u2019s a little way back in there and we were both really sweaty when we arrived,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Like any archery hunter, she knows that even a small trace of human scent can be enough to ruin a good hunt.<\/p>\n
However, older residual scent apparently doesn\u2019t bother elk that much, Seibel said, because she\u2019s captured great footage of van Gogh and other elk from the herd.<\/p>\n
Alex Maher, an archery hunter from Jackson, said that matches his experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you can walk by and minutes or hours later, they\u2019re not going to pick your scent up off the ground,\u201d he said. \u201cThe main part of elk smelling you is when you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are upwind of elk, and they catch your scent, they\u2019re out of there.”<\/p>\n
Some hunters use \u201cscent killer\u201d formulas that can be sprayed on clothing or even used as laundry detergent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maher said he relies more on paying attention to wind direction. He carries a \u201cwind-checker\u201d with him while hunting.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a small, squeezable tube of fine powder. When the tube is squeezed, it shoots a puff of the powder into the air, which will indicate which way the wind is blowing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s With The Ear?<\/p>\n
Like much of the wildlife in central and Western Wyoming, the Greys River elk suffered horribly during the hard winter of 2022-2023, when thousands of animals froze or starved to death.<\/p>\n
Even so, elk are hardy and resilient, and Seibel said that from what she\u2019s seen, the Greys River elk she tracks are making a strong comeback.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe past two years, the elk have had so many babies, and they\u2019re all so fat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As to how the particularly curious cow elk lost half an ear, Seibel said she doesn\u2019t know.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Van Gogh the artist sliced off part of his left ear on Christmas Eve in 1888, supposedly after a quarrel with his roommate in the south of France.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He reportedly wrapped the severed ear and delivered it to a woman in a neighborhood brothel, instructing her to \u201cguard this object carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s thought that the bizarre episode stemmed from van Gogh\u2019s exhaustion\u00a0and possible mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Van Gogh the elk perhaps could have lost part of her ear to frostbite during that brutal 2022-2023 winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seibel doubts that\u2019s the case because the ear stub has a clean edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not typical what it looks like when they lose ears to frostbite, or get it caught in something,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s usually torn and tattered at the edges.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s Just A Gorgeous Area\u2019<\/p>\n
Seibel said that as hunting season gets underway, van Gogh and the other cows in the herd are safe from her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She prefers to shoot bulls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year I got a pretty good bull, so I\u2019m holding out for an even better one this year,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most archery elk hunting seasons kicked off Monday. Seibel said she prefers to wait until the middle of the month before venturing out. That way, she misses the initial rush and is more likely to have the fields and woods to herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And even if she doesn\u2019t end up filling her elk tag, the experience is always worth it, she said.<\/p>\n
The territory that the elk occupy have become one of her favorite places in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She relocated to Teton County from the Midwest, where she loved archery hunting for elusive white-tailed deer. Archery elk hunting has proven to be a new challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool getting to know the terrain and how the animals use it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a gorgeous area.\u201d<\/p>\n