Tyler McKinley and other members of his hunting party were at first excited when Tyler’s father shot a cow elk last week, but then shocked when they saw its bizarrely deformed hooves.
“We walked up to her, and we were, like, what the heck is this?” McKinley told Cowboy State Daily.
He lives near Pueblo, Colorado, and was on an elk hunt about 60 miles southwest of his home in an area where he and his family have hunted before.
But none of them had never seen anything like the elk’s hooves — which were so overgrown and twisted, they wondered how the creature had managed to walk.
“As we were processing the carcass, we were joking, ‘I wonder what these tracks would have looked like, if you stumbled across them in the snow?’” he said.
Elk Looked Fine From A Distance
McKinley said they first spotted the cow elk moving through some timber up a ridge, about 500-600 yards away.
Nothing about the elk seemed abnormal, and it appeared to be moving just fine.
“She was at the top (of the ridge) in, like, two minutes,” he said.
Once the elk reached the top, “she was just feeding around” and acting like any other elk, he added.
McKinley’s father had a cow elk tag, so he stalked in closer by himself and shot the elk.
McKinley watched from a distance.
“Right before he shot her, I thought, ‘Man, she has some big feet,’” he said.
They were a taken aback when they saw just how strange the elk’s hooves were, but the rest of the animal looked normal.
“She wasn’t super-skinny or anything like that. She was just your average cow elk,” McKinley said.
What Caused This?
They got the carcass home and, as they usually do, hung the meat up to cure.
“We usually let the meat hang for a week before we butcher it,” McKinley said.
But at first, he had some doubts about whether they should eat it.
What if the elk was infected with some strange disease that had also spread to the meat?
He called a local game warden with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and showed the warden photos of the elk’s hooves.
The warden didn’t seem alarmed or think that the animal’s meat was tainted.
McKinley said he was told that the hoof deformations could have resulted from some sort of nutritional deficiency.
He also posted photos online in a social media forum for hunters, asking why the hooves look the way they do, and if the meat was still good.
Nobody suggested that the meat was bad. But several hunters said it looked like the effects of a hoof disease that has been spreading elsewhere, particularly in Washington state.
A hunter killed a cow elk in southeast Colorado last week and discovered these bizarre deformities to the animal’s hooves. He’s not certain what caused the weird growth, but it seems to mirror the effects of an elk hoof disease that’s been spreading in Washington State. (Courtesy Tyler McKinley) 
A hunter killed a cow elk in southeast Colorado last week and discovered these bizarre deformities to the animal’s hooves. He’s not certain what caused the weird growth, but it seems to mirror the effects of an elk hoof disease that’s been spreading in Washington State. (Courtesy Tyler McKinley) 
A hunter killed a cow elk in southeast Colorado last week and discovered these bizarre deformities to the animal’s hooves. He’s not certain what caused the weird growth, but it seems to mirror the effects of an elk hoof disease that’s been spreading in Washington State. (Courtesy Tyler McKinley)
Disease Spreads In Washington
Reports of elk with deformed, broken or missing hooves have increased in southwest Washington state, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
It’s been attributed to treponema-associated hoof disease (TAHD).
“The disease appears to be highly infectious among elk, but there is no evidence that it affects humans,” according to Fish and Wildlife.
There’s no evidence that it effects any other part of elk’s bodies, so the meat from elk infected with TAHD is safe to eat, Fish and Wildlife states.
There’s no treatment for infected elk, according to the agency.
“Similar diseases in livestock are treated by forcing them to walk through foot baths and cleaning and bandaging their hooves, but that is not a realistic option for free-ranging elk,” according to Fish and Wildlife.
No Colorado Outbreak Feared
While CPW monitors for wildlife disease outbreaks, there’s no immediate concern about an elk hoof disease outbreak in Colorado, CPW Southeast Region spokesman Bill Vogrin told Cowboy State Daily.
“We’re always watching for things, but there are no ongoing concerns,” he said.
McKinley said his family will butcher the elk meat as planned and enjoy the bounty of their hunt.
“Even it was that hoof disease, the meat is OK,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
