Columnist Paula Del Giudice: Reno to host ‘Elk Camp’

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

Paula Del Giudice's outdoors column appears Thursday. She can be reached at desertdenizens@aol.com.

If you've never been to Elk Camp, you don't know what you're missing.

Of course, there's elk camp and then there's Elk Camp. Elk camp, especially in Nevada, is a great place to be during hunting season. Having a Nevada elk tag where the opportunity to see many elk, pick your animal, never see another hunter and stay within a day's drive of home is remarkable .

Now Elk Camp is quite another story. Elk Camp, a gathering of wildlife enthusiasts, conservationists, hunters, outfitters and artisans sponsored by the Rocky Mountian Elk Foundation, is an exciting confab.

This year's Elk Camp is slated for February 21-24 at the Reno Hilton.

It is expected that 20,000 visitors will pass through the doors of Elk Camp this year. They will enjoy 400 exhibit booths featuring wildlife art, outdoor gear, jewelry and outfitted hunting trips. Outdoor experts will cover hunt-planning and shooting skills, survival techniques, wild game care and family activities in the outdoors.

A "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman" workshop will provide women an opportunity to learn outdoor skills and meet other women with similar interests.

Among other highlights are the World Elk Calling & Bugling Championship, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's world record elk display. Children will be treated to "Wild Outdoor World for Kids" sessions, with hands-on activities designed to teach kids about elk and habitat conservation.

Nevada is home to more than 3,000 Elk Foundation members. With 12 chapters in Nevada, RMEF volunteers have worked to conserve and enhance more than 164,000 acres of wildlife habitat in the state.

The most recent major RMEF project in Nevada was the joint purchase of the 6,400-acre 3C Ranch south of Ely.

RMEF partnered with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Nevada Bighorns Unlimited to purchase the property, which supports about 400 elk, mule deer, pronghorn, sage grouse, waterfowl and other species. Since the purchase, RMEF has partnered with Ducks Unlimited and several other groups, and was awarded a North American Wetlands Conservation Grant to reestablish and improve historic wetlands and associated uplands on the property.

For more information on Elk Camp or the RMEF, call 1-800-225-5355, ext. 510. Its website is www.elkfoundation.org.

The increase is expected to generate slightly more than $100,000 in additional revenue this year for the Nevada Division of Wildlife. Deer tag fees were last increased in 1990, when the fee went from $15 to $20.

"This is a way to continue the program that we have now," said Terry Crawforth, administrator for the Nevada Division of Wildlife. "We have one of the best big game programs in the country and we need the resources to continue that."