Kansas City, MO – Only five permits issued in Missouri's first modern-day elk hunt, out of more than 19,100 applications. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) awarded four general permits for the public and one permit for a qualifying area landowner.
Those five permits allow hunters the chance to harvest a bull elk in either an archery portion, which was Oct. 17-25th, or a firearm portion Dec. 12-20. No elk were taken during the archery portion.
“A couple of the hunters had some close encounters with the elk, but they were unable to connect on any," said Eric Edwards, MDC program coordinator.
Edwards said hunters have another shot at a bull elk starting this Saturday with the beginning of the firearm portion.
A bull elk weighs between 700 and 1100 pounds. These massive deer are native to Missouri, but were wiped out by poor land and hunt management.
Since 2011, the conservation department, nonprofits and landowners have worked to restore the species to areas in the Missouri Ozark region. Today the elk range in Carter, Reynolds, and Shannon counties.