Producing Elk

 The Bagley family has ranched the Teton Mountain Ranch In Victor, for over 100 years. Originally It was a sheep operation, then cattle, sheep,hay, grain and potatoes along with a small dairy. The ranch is no longer conventional. Owner Greg Bagley told me that he made a choice and turned to producing elk for a number of reasons including space considerations. “One thing that really got us going in the elk, was up here we were kind of limited in our ground space for grazing and things like that. We can feed three elk for one beef cow.”

The ranch Is beautifully situated in the Targhee-Caribou National Forest. combine that with the elk and you have an opportunity for agri-tourism. Tour coordinator Alexis Bagley says that the family seized the the opportunity. “We had to find new ways to diversify and be able to keep the ranch going with all of the growth that we have had in this Valley. So we got into the elk and people were curious and stopped all the time, so we started offering elk tours.

Along with the agri-tourism market, the elk herd offers other marketing avenues for the Bagleys. “That’s another great thing about elk is that we have several different markets. We can pull the velvet market from the elk, we have offspring market, we have a breeding market for the elk, we have hard antler market for the elk which has just taken off like crazy for the last few years because there is a great demand for the hard antler, the hunting market for the elk, the meat market for the elk, but you have to go out and sell it. You have to go out and market the animals. You can’t take them down to the local auction and get rid of them every week.