Elk
Updated March 6, 2010
By Art Lander Jr.
OutdoorsKentucky.Com
2009-10 Elk Season Harvest
The 2009-10 elk season harvest was 276 bulls and 502 cows.
“The bull harvest includes bulls taken during the youth hunt, on tags awarded by the Commission, and calves shot as antlerless elk,” said Tina Brunjes, elk program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “On the tags awarded by lottery, the hunter success rate was 91 percent on bulls and 75 percent on cows. Seventy hunters that drew cow tags chose not to purchase permits.”
Kentucky’s 16-county elk zone is divided into six elk management units (EMUs), and EMU 6, is further divided into five sub-units. “Elk permits are allocated by the number of elk in each unit, and hunter access,” said Brunjes. “Areas with poor hunter access are issued fewer permits.”
Knott county led the state in harvest last year with 250 elk (94 bulls and 156 cows), and Leslie was second with 113 (44 bulls and 69 cows). “Knott County was our first release site,” said Brunjes. “Elk have been there a lot longer and numbers have built up.”
While Kentucky’s elk zone is a wooded mountainous region, elk herds are concentrated around reclaimed mined lands. Elk are grazers and prefer grasslands.
Since elk hunting began in Kentucky in 2001, hunters have taken many large bulls (see record list). Hunters who draw bull tags are restricted to elk with 4 x 4 antlers (four points on each side), or larger.
Elk grow faster and develop larger antlers faster in Kentucky than many areas of the western US because of higher soil fertility and an abundance of succulent forage. “A 300-inch bull is about 5 to 6 years old elk here,” said Brunjes.
During the 2009-10 season no elk were killed in McCreary or Whitley Counties. These two counties, which contain 189,135 acres in Daniel Boone National Forest (142,617 acres in McCreary County and 46,135 acres in Whitley County), were the last two counties added to Kentucky’s elk zone, during the 2004-05 season.
In 2009-10 the Commission raised the number of quota elk permits to 1,000. During the previous season (2008-09), only 400 elk permits were awarded.
For the 2010-11 season hunters must apply online for elk permits. The application deadline is April 30, 2010. Lottery applications are $10 each.
Kentucky’s elk herd is now estimated to number about 11,000 animals.
Updated February 6, 2010
Staff Report
World Record Bull Elk Taken in Utah
Perhaps the largest elk ever produced in the wild—a Utah bull taken in 2008 by a hunter on public land—has been confirmed as a new World’s Record by Boone and Crockett Club.
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club promotes guardianship and visionary management of big game and associated wildlife in North America. The Club maintains the highest standards of fair-chase sportsmanship and habitat stewardship, and is the universally recognized keeper of the records of native North American big game.
A special judges panel determined a final score of 478-5/8 B&C non-typical points, an incredible 93-plus inches above the Boone and Crockett minimum score of 385 for non-typical American elk, and more than 13 inches larger than the previous World’s Record.
It is the only elk on record with a gross score approaching the 500-inch mark, at 499-3/8. Official data dates back to 1830.
The giant bull has 9 points on the left antler and 14 points on the right. The larger antler has a base circumference topping 9 inches.
The Boone and Crockett scoring system, long used to measure the success of wildlife conservation and management programs across North America, rewards antler size and symmetry, but also recognizes nature’s imperfections with non-typical categories for most antlered game. The bull’s final score of 478-5/8 inches includes an amazing 140 inches of abnormal points.
“Along with measurements that honor the quality of the animal, Boone and Crockett Club records also honor fair-chase hunting,” said Eldon Buckner, chairman of the Club’s Records of North American Big Game committee. “Through our entry process, signed affidavits and follow-up interviews with the hunter, his guides, and state and federal officials, we were satisfied that this bull was indeed a wild, free-ranging trophy and that the tenets of fair chase were used in the harvest.”
The hunter, Denny Austad of Ammon, Idaho, hunted the Monroe Mountain District in south-central Utah. Hunting with a self-designed rifle, Austad killed the bull on Sept. 30, 2008. He hunted for 13 days before connecting with the trophy, dubbed “spider bull” for its unique antler configuration.
On behalf of the Boone and Crockett Club, Buckner congratulated Austad and credited his new World’s Record to the tremendous management of habitat and wildlife by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Fishlake National Forest.
“Utah’s conservation professionals really deserve a pat on the back, as do the citizens of Utah for their support of their state’s wildlife programs,” said Buckner. Across North America, ever-improving conservation practices have translated to flourishing big game populations, with balanced age-class and mature, trophy animals. Over the past 30 years, qualifying Boone and Crockett records book entries for American elk have increased 193 percent from a total of 14 in 1977 to 41 in 2007.
Across all categories of native North American big game, the overall trend is even higher with 344 qualifiers in 1977 up to 1,151 in 2007—a 234 percent increase.
The previous World’s Record for non-typical American elk was 465-2/8 B&C points. That bull was found dead, frozen in Upper Arrow Lake, B.C., in 1994, and was entered into Boone and Crockett Club records by the provincial Ministry of Environment on behalf of the citizens of British Columbia.
For hunter-taken non-typical American elk, the previous top bull scored 450-6/8 B&C points, taken in 1998 in Apache County, Ariz., by Alan Hamberlin.
Kentucky Trophy Bull Elk Taken by Firearms Hunters
Prior to 2009 Season
Typical Antlers
371 0/8 Greg Neff, Bell County, in 2007
367 0/8 Bill Auxier, Knott County, in 2007
361 4/8 Franklin Scott, Knott County, in 2006
341 1/8 Troy Asher, Leslie County, in 2006
334 4/8 Eric Hart, Leslie County, in 2006
Non-Typical Antlers
367 7/8 Kelvin Jackson, Harlan County, in 2008
349 2/8 Andy Kidd, Perry County, in 2006
348 0/8 Ken Peters, Perry County, in 2007
342 3/8 Danny Waldroup, Knott County, in 2006
320 2/8 Matthew Hall, Bell County, in 2005
Posted February 15, 2010
By Lee McClellan
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
New State Record Non-Typical Elk
Kentucky has a new state record non-typical bull elk -- Terrell Royalty’s 7x7 elk that scored 372 6/8.
The Harrodsburg resident’s bull bested the old record of 367 7/8 taken in Harlan County in 2008. Royalty took his record elk from a wildlife management area in Knott County on October 4, 2009.
“This new state record shows the quality elk hunting we have on our public lands,” said Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Commissioner Jon Gassett. “In addition to the great elk hunting on private lands, Kentucky boasts world-class elk hunting on public lands as well.”
Royalty’s elk had seven points on each main beam. The score is the total measurements of the main beams, tines, width and mass. The trophy could not be officially scored until after a 60-day drying period.
“I’ve hunted all of my life, I’ve had buck fever and all, but this bull was by far the biggest adrenaline rush of my life,” said Royalty, 52. “Once it hit the ground, I felt like I was being stabbed with a million needles and it lasted two or three hours. I was almost in shock.”
Royalty said he scouted the area with help from his friend Paul Moore, who participated in the 2008 cow elk hunt. “We started scouting well before the hunt and found this bull,” Royalty said. “Paul and I grew up together, and he helped me a bunch.”
The first week of the 2009 bull elk season started Saturday, October 3rd. Royalty’s hunt proved fruitless for a day and half. Then, about 2 p.m. Sunday, Royalty, who was hunting with his best friend, Brad Smith, and guide Bob Hunter, heard a bugle.
“After we heard that bugle, we moved to get out front and downwind,” he said. “We tracked and tracked to stay out in front of this bull. About 5 p.m. or so, a cow calf came out and we cow called back and forth. Then, the one cow calf turned into about nine. The cows came out in twos and got older and bigger as they came out.”
The trophy bull then appeared in the clearing and bugled at another bull in the distance. “He turned broadside and everything was perfect,” Royalty said. “It took 15 minutes to get the right angle on him.”
Royalty, who estimated that he was 340 yards away from the bull, aimed his .300 Winchester Short Magnum rifle and shot only once.
Tina Brunjes, big game coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, was not surprised to learn the record had been broken. “Kentucky continues to produce new state records with regularity,” she said. “Each year drawn hunters can reasonably expect a chance to beat the state record.”
Updated March 9, 2010
By Art Lander Jr.
OutdoorsKentucky.Com
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission Votes
to Award 800 Permits to hunters for the 2010-11
Elk Season
FRANKFORT -- At its quarterly meeting on March 5, 2010, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to award hunters 800 permits for the 2010-11 elk season, and made some minor changes to the elk regulations.
The breakdown of permits includes: 200 bull permits and 600 cow permits. One hundred twenty-five of the bull permits are for elk with 4 x 4 antlers (four points on each side), or larger, and 75 of the bull permits are for elk with spike antlers, with up to
two points on each side.
Kentucky’s elk herd, which is estimated to number about 11,000, resides in a 16-county elk zone in eastern Kentucky, which is divided into six Elk Hunting Units (EHUs).
Last year, when 1,000 permits were issued, hunters took 778 elk – 276 bulls and 502 cows.
Elk permits are awarded by lottery drawing, with a few given to landowners who let the public hunt on their land, and a few auctioned for fundraising purposes to benefit elk restoration.
Beginning this season, EHU 3, will be divided into two sub-units EHU 3A, and EHU 3B. “Creating a small unit around the core of Consol WMA will better control hunting pressure, and the number of elk harvested,” said Tina Brunjes, elk biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
The November firearms season for elk was moved to December, so that it wouldn’t overlap with modern firearms season for deer.
A hunter drawn for a bull elk permit can’t apply for a bull permit for the next three years, but can continue to apply for a cow elk permit. This change is designed to increase the number of people hunting elk in Kentucky for the first time.
The 2010-11 elk seasons are:
Firearms: Youth-only, September 25-27
Firearms: Week 1 (bull), October 2-8.
Week 2 (bull), October 9-15
Firearms: Week 1 (cow), December 11-17
Week 2 (cow), December, 18-24
Archery: Week 1 (bull), October 2-8, and
October 16, 2010 through January 17, 2011.
Archery: Week 2 (bull), October 9, 2010 through January 17, 2011.
Archery: Week 1 (cow), October 16 through December 17, and December 25, 2010 through January 17, 2011.
Archery: Week 2 (cow), October 16 through December 10 and, December 18, 2010 through January 17, 2011.