Elk - Education • Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Eighteen draw Arkansas elk hunt permits

Randy Zellers — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 19:08:59 +0000

JASPER – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission drew the names of 18 Arkansans on the stage of the Buffalo River Elk Festival Saturday to participate in this fall’s annual public land elk hunts.

More than 6,600 applicants applied for elk permits online during the May application window, and 15 of the permits allotted for public land were drawn from those entries. An additional 620 people applied on-site at the festival for three additional permits reserved for attendees of the event. Permits were drawn from a squirrel cage in front of an anxious crowd throughout the day. Winners of the three on-site permits had to be present to win during the final drawing of the festival.

Hunters are allowed to choose their weapons from archery (including crossbows), muzzleloaders, modern rifles, modern shotguns and handguns.

All public land hunts occur on the Buffalo National River, Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area and Bearcat Hollow Wildlife Management Area. Hunters are assigned specific zones within these public lands. Public land permit holders are encouraged to attend an orientation before the hunt and will be notified of the time and location.

Arkansas also holds private land elk hunts, managed through a quota system, for hunters who have landowner permission in Arkansas’s Core Elk Management Zone. Visit www.agfc.com/elk for more information.

Arkansas 2024 elk hunt permit winners:

Oct. 7-11 Hunt

Zone 2 Antlerless — Jessica Ward, Jerusalem

Zone 2 Antlerless — Bobby Flow, Magnolia

Zone 2 Antlerless — Clayton Yazza, Austin

Zone 3 Antlerless — Ronald Leming, Malvern

Zone 3 Antlerless — Gary Melson, Clarksville

Zone 3 Antlerless — Jonathan Stein, Garfield

Zone 4 Antlerless — Matthew Kingston, Paragould

Zone 4 Antlerless — Kayla Williams, Russellville

Zone 4 Antlerless — Mark Glover, Greenbrier

Oct. 28-Nov. 1 Hunt

Zone 2 Either Sex — Keith Hennarichs, Fayetteville

Zone 2 Either Sex — James Moorhouse, London

Zone 2 Antlerless — Justin Mitchell, Mena

Zone 3 Either Sex — Paige Hamilton, Tumbling Shoals

Zone 3 Either Sex — James Wray, Jonesboro

Zone 3 Antlerless — Michael Smoke, Bismark

Zone 4 Either Sex — Thomas Bridges, Harrison

Zone 4 Either Sex — James Butler, Alpena

Zone 4 Antlerless — William Jones, Prairie Grove

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Buffalo River Elk Festival offers last shot to apply for Arkansas elk hunting permit

Randy Zellers — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 18:57:21 +0000

JASPER — If you didn’t apply for one of Arkansas’s public land elk permits in May, you still have a chance to get one of the most coveted hunting tags The Natural State has to offer. In addition to 15 public elk hunting tags pulled from the applicants who applied in May, three special permits will be drawn from participants who register at this year’s Buffalo River Elk Festival in Jasper on Friday, June 28, and Saturday, June 29.

Registration for the onsite Elk Permit drawing will be at the Little Buffalo River Visitor’s Center from 1-4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Requirements are the same as in the online process. Only Arkansas residents can apply. You must have a current Arkansas Sportsman’s combination hunting and fishing license. And you must be present for the drawing of these three permits at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The on-site draw is a separate drawing from the online applicants, who do not have to be present to win and will receive notices of their draw the week following the festival. Hunters who already applied online may also apply for these tags to increase their chance of drawing.

The elk-hunting permits are the capstone of the festival, but there are plenty of other activities and events to keep families entertained throughout the two-day celebration of the elk’s return to Arkansas. Music and dancing in the street will be available until 11 p.m. Friday. The festivities will continue Saturday with elk calling contests, a fishing derby, a Dutch oven cooking contest, shotgun shell drop and a 5K run dubbed “Run with the Elk.” You may even catch a glimpse of “The King” as an Elvis impersonator is listed in the main stage appearances Saturday. Music and festivities will continue well after permit draws are complete, and the festival will conclude with a fireworks show in the square at 9:50 p.m. Saturday.

Visit https://www.buffaloriverelkfestival.com/wp/ for more information on the Buffalo River Elk Festival.

Arkansas’s 2024 elk hunting season dates and information are available at www.agfc.com/elk

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CUTLINES:

ELK IN WATER
18 public land elk hunting permits will be drawn at this year’s Buffalo River Elk Festival.

HUNTER WITH ELK
Hunter Brent Hohenstein tagged this excellent bull elk in 2012.

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Apply for an Arkansas Elk Hunting Permit

Randy Zellers — Wed, 01 May 2024 14:20:18 +0000

LITTLE ROCK — Hunters interested in pursuing Arkansas’s largest big game animal can apply for a limited hunting permit draw from 8 a.m. May 1 through 11:59 p.m. June 1 at the AGFC’s licensing site (www.agfc.com/license) under the “Special Hunt Permits” tab.

Fifteen permits (Five either sex and 10 antlerless) will be available for public draw through online applications this season. All elk permits will be drawn at the Buffalo River Elk Festival in Jasper, scheduled for June 28-29. Winners will be notified via email and phone once the draw is concluded. Three additional on-site permits (one either sex and two antlerless) will be drawn at the festival. Only people who attend the festival in person will be eligible for the on-site permit drawing.

Only Arkansas residents may apply for an Arkansas public land elk hunting permit. Applicants must have a valid Resident Sportsman Hunting License or must be a holder of a Lifetime Sportsman’s Permit. Applicants must be 6 years or older as of the beginning of the hunt (Oct. 5) to participate. Anyone with 18 or more violations points is ineligible for the permit.

Hunters with access to private land in elk country use a quota system instead of drawn permits. Any resident may purchase a Private Lake Elk Permit (labeled PLE in the AGFC licensing system) for $5 in addition to a valid resident Sportsman Hunting License.. Nonresidents must purchase a Nonresident Elk Permit (NRE) for $300 in addition to a valid Nonresident Annual Hunting License.

The private land quota is 18 total, 6 either sex and 12 antlerless. Hunters must call each evening to determine if the quota has been met before the next day’s hunt. The season ends early if the quota is filled.

Additionally, hunters may take any elk they see outside of the Core Elk Management Zone (Boone, Carroll, Madison, Newton and Searcy counties) while legally deer hunting with archery, muzzleloaders or modern guns of at least .24 caliber.

Visit www.agfc.com/elk for more information on elk and elk hunting in Arkansas.

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CUTLINES:

ELK TURNING HEAD
Mature bull elk tend to harems of cows during their breeding season.

ELK BUGLING
Elk were reintroduced to Arkansas in the early 1980s. AGFC photo.

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History of Elk in Arkansas

Rhen Wilson — Tue, 02 May 2023 04:02:42 +0000

Home / Education / Species / Elk

History of Elk in Arkansas

TOPIC

Elk Education

Elk populations once numbered in the millions and occupied habitats across most of North America. Shrinking habitat and overhunting reduced these large populations to a few persistent herds in the West.

The eastern elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis) lived in eastern pine and hardwood forests, and was native to Arkansas. Records indicate it persisted no later than the 1840s, and is now extinct.

The USDA Forest Service introduced Rocky Mountain elk (Cersus elaphus nelsoni) in Franklin County’s Black Mountain Refuge in 1933. Three bulls and eight cows from Wichita National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma were released. This herd increased to an estimated 200 by the mid 1950s, then vanished. No one knows for sure what caused the elk to disappear. Some speculate illegal hunting, natural mortality and shrinking habitat through forest growth eventually caused their demise.

In 1981, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, in cooperation with private citizens, initiated another elk restoration project in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. Between 1981 and 1985, 112 elk from Colorado and Nebraska were released in Newton County. All release sites were near the Buffalo National River.

The AGFC monitors the elk herd with the cooperation of the National Park Service. Through field observations, records on public comments and non-hunting mortalities and harvest data, the herd is estimated at about 450 animals. Arkansas’s elk range covers approximately 315,000 acres, of which 85,000 are public land. Public land within the elk range include National Park Service land, a small portion of National Forest land, and the AGFC’s Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area, bordering National Park Service property along the Buffalo River.

Without suitable habitat, elk would soon disappear from Arkansas. Realizing this, state, federal and private interests have worked together to expand and improve elk habitat along the Buffalo River. Since 1992, the AGFC, cooperating with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, has done extensive habitat improvement work on Gene Rush WMA. Year-round elk use of the WMA has increased significantly, and more habitat work is planned.

The National Park Service also wants to ensure the future of the elk herd. Their efforts to create and maintain beneficial elk habitat along the 95,730-acre Buffalo National River includes conducting prescribed burns, planting wildlife friendly grasses and legumes, reclaiming old fields, maintaining hay fields and establishing native grass openings.

Elk continue to slowly expand their range toward the mouth of the Buffalo River; however suitable habitat and the potential for developing more elk habitat on the lower portion of the river is limited.

The modern day Arkansas elk hunt was established in 1998. Hunters are selected by a random draw for a limited number of public land elk permits. There also are private land permits based on a quota system. Hunters applying for private land permits must have written landowner permission to qualify for an either-sex elk permit.

Interest in Arkansas elk increases each year. Not only in hunting these animals, but viewing them as well. More Arkansans visit the Buffalo River area each year to observe and photograph these magnificent animals, especially in late September and early October when elk are breeding. The herd will never be large compared those in western states, but these elk provide an exceptional wildlife-viewing and hunting opportunity.