Jonesey's Riverside Ranch | Guided Elk Hunts | Horseback riding | Animal Petting

Once indiginous to most of North America, the Rocky Mountain Elk, or the Native American name wapiti , are now making a comeback to this region at the hands of Russell and Jeanette Jones and Jonesey's Riverside Ranch, located on the River Road, Route 37, four miles east of Ogdensburg, New York. Elk are second largest of the deer family, moose being the largest, and certainly have much to offer. Long recognized as a prize for big game hunters, elk are now being bred and raised across the continent by ranchers and farmers like Russ and Jeanette.

Farm grown without the use of growth hormones or chemicals, elk meat is arguably better for you than beef. In addition to being delicious, elk meat is lean, low in fat, and lower in cholesterol than beef.

It is quite unusual to see elk up close in the wild, but you'll have an opportunity to get very close at Jonesey's Riverside Ranch.

While elk present unique challenges to ranchers, and are not as docile as cattle, they have much to offer. Joneseys Riverside Ranch is a member of the growing community of elk ranchers, and invites inquiries for breeding stock.

The fuzzy material hanging from the antlers of this elk is what is known as "velvet." This particular animal's antlers have now reached maturity for the season, and a new set will grow in the Spring of the year. Eventually all of this mossy velvet material will fall off and the antlers will continue to harden into a bone-like material. Antlers are carefully and humanely harvested not only for economic benefits, but for the protection of the animals and their handlers. Mature antlers are used to make pieces of art, jewelry, decorative accessories and furniture. Had the antlers been harvested a few weeks before this picture was taken, they could have been ground and sold for medicinal purposes.

Antlers harvested at the height of their growth stage, known as "velvet", have well documented medicinal properties, and are used extensively by health practicioners throughout the world. Elk velvet is rich in resources that have been demonstrated helpful in treating a wide variety of human ailments. While not fully embraced by the medical community, alternative medicine practicioners have been using elk velvet for centuries.

Elk antlers grow very rapidly, sometimes as much as several inches in a single day. It almost seems you can sit and watch as they grow. You'd need a pretty sharp eye for that, but come back tomorrow and you'll quickly agree.

While the elk are at the center stage at Jonesey's Riverside Ranch, we have other animals as well. The brave little deer fawn pictured here has an interesting history. He wandered into the barn of a nearby dairy farm to find a dairy cow willing to share her milk, his mother perhaps taken by a hunter or struck by a car. This litte orphan now has a new home here at Jonesey's. "Levi," as we call him, seems to love children and is ever curious of the goings on at the ranch.

Here a couple of his cousins, baby reindeer, look at home in the snow. These little fellows may find themselves destined to a life of luxury helping the Jolly Old Elf himself one day.

Here are a couple of donkeys.