Registered Rocky Mountain Elk

Bob and Janet Dahl

Oshkosh  WI 

920-233-0364

Vince 12, Evan 10, and Sadie 14 weeks

Willow Creek Elk Farm is owned by Bob and Janet Dahl and located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  

The farm was named after Willow Creek, which runs through the woods behind the farm.

Click on the picture to see a larger image

How we began . . . 

If you had told us 10 years ago  that we would be elk farmers one day, we wouldn’t have believed it.  The question that people ask us most often is “Why Elk?” 

In 1987 we purchased a 5-acre farmette South of Oshkosh on Hwy 45.  The farmette consisted of a large farmhouse built in 1914, and a sizeable barn surrounded by many outbuildings.   Janet’s father owned three other dairy farms surrounding our new home, so the location was perfect.  At that time we were focusing on starting our own family and careers, and were spending time helping Janet’s parents with their dairy farming. We did not have any plan for farming ourselves.  

Over the following 10 years, Janet’s parents sold their dairy cows and we purchased additional land surrounding our farm.  The land was all part of a licensed game farm, Black Wolf Wildlife Association (www.blackwolfwildlife.com), which was designed to preserve the area, so we were looking for a new way to utilize the land without developing it. 

Our main objectives were to preserve the land and create something we could enjoy as a family.  We wanted to farm, but needed to choose the right type of farming for our lifestyle.  We have two boys (Vince, and Evan) and own and operate another business (www.envirofan.com), so our time available is limited.  Because Janet was raised on a dairy farm and very familiar with the long hours and dedication that was involved with dairy and horse farming, we knew we needed to find an alternative that would work better for us.

During the spring of 2000 we saw a special program on Wisconsin Public Television that highlighted several types of alternative farming  - ranging from ostrich and emu, llama, pheasant, ginseng, mushroom, buffalo and elk farming.  We agreed that elk farming seemed to be just what we were looking for and decided to investigate it further.  

While at Farm Progress Days we visited the WCDEFA - Wisconsin Commercial Deer and Elk Farmers Association booth.  We gathered information from the elk farmers displaying at the booth, and then spent a lot of time researching our newfound interest.  The internet was a wealth of information, and after researching what we could online, we contacted a few local farms to tour.  

The first and only farm we visited was Hillcrest Farms in Plymouth, Wisconsin, owned by Jim Pankow and Kristine Hammes.  Jim and Kristine were extremely knowledgeable, encouraging and helpful.  We liked their ideas and concepts and felt that raising elk would definitely suit our lifestyle.  Jim was always there to answer our many, many questions, and helped us to plan what we would need to begin.  

We made our decision to begin our elk farming endeavor with our main interest in the velvet and breeding stock.  We decided to rent out the rest of our land for crop farming, and to start slowly.  Our plan was for a total of 50 acres fenced in eventually, with a total of 80 elk.

Our first 5 acres were fenced in over the summer of 2000.  During August, we worked hard to construct our fence.  It was definitely a learning experience, and after a great many hours, a lot of hard work, and a great deal of help from our family members and Jim Pankow, we were ready to have our elk delivered.

The first elk were delivered in September - 1 bull, Montana (pictured above), and 2 cows.  Our first two cows calved in May of 2001 - one with twins!   Five additional cows were purchased in 2001.

Today the farm is home to 28 head of elk.  We had originally estimated that we would have 80 elk by 2006.  We have cut that back to a goal of about 40 elk by 2006.  Currently, we have names for all of the elk, and so far can recognize each one by its appearance and personality.  We enjoy coming home at the end of the day and feeding the elk or just spending time around them.  They are a joy to watch and to learn about.

Our main goal with raising elk is still for the velvet and breeding stock.  We continue to rent out the rest of our land for crop farming, and build one new 5 acre pasture each summer. Currently we have 30 acres fenced in.  Eventually we will reach our goal of 50 acres of pasture. 

We are members of North American Elk Breeders Association and Wisconsin Commercial Deer and Elk Farmer’s Association. We have attended several farm tours and the local conventions.  The people we have come in contact with have all been extremely friendly and are eager to share their insight, which has been very helpful.  We have learned so much, but realize that we have much more to learn and experience.  Starting slowly was a very important step for us.

We feel very comfortable with our decision to become elk farmers, and we feel fortunate to have enriched our lives with this learning experience and these very interesting animals. 

                        If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us. 

                        Click here to email.