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Perhaps even more incredibly, the elk were able to recognize tactics used by bow hunters and rifle hunters. “Learning plays a large part in the adaptation of elk to hunting, and those elk that survive hunting seasons get even better at avoiding hunters in subsequent seasons,” says Boyce. When the elk found themselves near roads, they kept to more rugged terrain or within forests. After this age threshold, female elk become almost bulletproof, virtually invulnerable to hunting.”īoyce and his co-authors determined elk that survive each hunting season get even better at avoiding hunters the next time around, using tactics such as moving around less in general and staying in places where hunters are much less likely to be. “Elk learn to become shy as they get older,” says Mark Boyce, a conservation biologist, in a university press release. Researchers observed that older elk used their social learning skills to dodge hunters. A new study finds that female elk grow wiser the older the get, figuring out ways to avoid hunters so well that they become nearly “bulletproof.” Forty-nine elk between the ages of 1 and 18 were tracked for the study. The study examined elk residing in the 46,000 square kilometers between Southwestern Alberta and Southeastern British Columbia from 2007 to 2012 using radiocollars. EDMONTON, Alberta - New research from the University of Alberta has found that female elks alter how they conduct themselves as they age to adeptly avoid hunters - so much so that they become practically “bulletproof.”