"An Elk Ranch in the wild" - The Capitol Times - October 14, 1999
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An Elk Ranch in The Wild
Visitors can see cows giving birth, antlered bulls fighting
Michael Bailey Special to The Capital Times

REEDSBURG -- Not many people have had the opportunity to see an elk cow give birth to a calf, or to see two heavily antlered elk bulls going head-to-head to determine mating rights.

At the Nanchas Elk Ranch between Reedsburg and Wisconsin Dells, these things happen every year, and those for­tunate enough to be there can see it all firsthand.

Nancy and Charlie Fochs, owners of the ranch, began giving guided tours this spring in response to a growing public interest in their elk.

"Each time of year you see some­thing different," Nancy said, adding that all of the many groups that have toured their facility already this year have ex­pressed delight at the beauty and majesty of the elk herd.

The 160-acre ranch is cordoned off with eight-foot high-strength wire mesh fencing and the heard can easily be seen by those taking the tours.

After watching a five-minute video about elk and the Nanchas ranch, guests board wagons fitted with bench seats and are pulled throughout the facility by tractors. Nancy said elderly people make up many of the tour groups and the steps onto the wagons and the seats have been designed specifically to ac­commodate those people.

The Fochses began their elk ranching enterprise in 1994 because of their mutual interests in the animals.

"We were glad to find there is a good market for elk products," Charlie said.

He said three main sources of in­come for their first years in business came form selling breeding stock, meat and velvet antlers, wherein the antlers are cut off during their velvet stage of development and sold, usually through Asian markets, principally Korea. Since the Asian economy has been fiat re­cently, he added, they have quit taking velvet antlers and started giving tours.

"We don't harvest the velvet any-more because people who come here want to see full antlers," Nancy said.

Besides the 160 acres of land for the ranch and their original breeding stock, the Fochses have invested in special fencing for 65 acres and another $12,000 for a system of gates and hold­ing pens for treating the animals indi­vidually.

"When you've got your land you've got one-third of your cost." Charlie said.

When visitors first arrive at the ranch they enter a large pole building that fea­tures a gift shop in the front, a seating area with a large-screen television and, at the rear, heavy gates and holding pens for treating the elk individually.

Charlie said the gate system was designed to provide the least amount of stress for the elk when they pass through. The chutes and gates lead to a specially designed, hydraulically driven damping device, which will hold the animal immobilized while it is being treated, or bred or whatever.

"We have 120 elk here," Nancy said, "and we need to have some­thing efficient and safe for the animals." 

A mature bull in the wild Will weigh between 800 and 900 pounds, whereas the bulls at the Nanchas ranch all go over 1,000 pounds and one tops out at 1,500 pounds. Cows weigh around 600 pounds and calves weigh about 35 ' pounds at birth. An elk can live 30 years or longer.

During the summer months the elk eat mostly what they can for­age for themselves on the pastures provided for them. They also receive some oats and corn as well: as a pelleted mineral mix. In the winter, Charlie sets out baled hay to see them through until the lush grass of spring returns.

Elk are thought to be related to the Asian red deer and to have mi­grated from Russia when the North American land mass connected with Siberia. 

There are now several different sub-species of elk common to North America. Charlie said they use pure-bred Manitoba bulls and cross with Rocky Mountain cows.

"We belong to both state and national elk organizations and nobody has ever done this on an operation this size," Charlie said of their giving tours of the ranch.

He pointed out that hunters who track elk in the wild never get to see the animals interacting and living close up.

"There's lots of things you'll see here that hunters will never see. There's lots of things you'll see here you'll never see in a zoo," he said.

Nancy said tours leave every 20 minutes and last almost an hour.

She added that it didn't matter how large the group is.

"Even if there's only one cou­ple, we'll go on a tour," she said.

Charlie said it is hard to assess just how successful their tour idea has been because there is nothing to compare it to. He added, how­ever, that. there has been no short­age of people interested in touring the facility. They have had seniors tours, motor coach tours, school groups and mystery tours.

"At least we know that what we have here people like," Charlie said.

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