After nearly a decade of restoring Missouri’s elk population, the state has announced its first-ever hunting season for the species.
The Missouri Department of Conservation said Wednesday that it will utilize a lottery system to award five permits for hunting bull elk this fall.
Four permits will be awarded to the public and one will be issued via a drawing among landowners whose property lies within a designated “Landowner Elk Hunting Zone.”
The MDC stated in a news release that the hunt was approved after successful long-term restoration efforts by the MDC and other partners, including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Elk are native to Missouri and were once widespread, but market hunting had wiped them out by the late 1800s. The restoration effort began in 2011 with the capture and relocation of elk from Kentucky to the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in the Missouri Ozarks.
The relocation effort spanned two years, and the current population of free-ranging elk in three Missouri counties now numbers about 200 animals.
“The timing of the season was designed to come after the peak of elk breeding during late September and early October, and to avoid the elk season coinciding with portions of the firearms deer season,” said MDC biologist Aaron Hildreth.
The agency will allow permit holders to hunt during either a nine-day archery portion Oct. 17-25, or a nine-day firearms portion Dec. 12-20. The cost for the public to apply is $10, and all five lottery winners will be charged $50 for their permits.
Landowners must own at least 20 acres within the designated zone and the lottery winner will be restricted to hunting on his or her property.
General permit holders will hunt on public land in Carter, Reynolds, and Shannon counties.
Missouri elk hunts are expected to become an annual fall ritual.
–Generic images are courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (top two) and ©Pete Thomas
