The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering Missourians the state’s first elk-hunting season in modern history this October.
For the inaugural season, MDC will issue one permit each to five lucky Missourians randomly drawn from 19,215 permit applications, including 33 for one resident-landowner antlered-elk permit and 19,182 for four general permits.
The five lucky applicants drawn for a permit to harvest one antlered elk in Missouri this fall include Bill Clark of Van Buren, who was drawn for the resident-landowner antlered-elk permit, and four men who were drawn for an antlered-elk general permit: Joseph Benthall of Mount Vernon, Michael Buschjost of St. Thomas, Samuel Schultz of Winfield and Eugene Guilkey of Liberty.
Each of the five can purchase their elk-hunting permit starting July 1 for a cost of $50. The five hunters can then each harvest one bull elk that has at least one antler being a minimum of six inches long. The five hunters may hunt using archery methods Oct. 17-25 and firearms methods Dec. 12-20. Each permit is valid for both the archery and firearms portions of the elk-hunting season.
The resident landowner permit will be used by Clark on his 80 acres east of Peck Ranch Conservation Area. The four general permits may be used within Carter, Reynolds or Shannon counties excluding the refuge portion of Peck Ranch.
Learn more about elk hunting in Missouri online at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/elk.
Elk are a native species in Missouri but were hunted to extinction in the state through unregulated hunting during the late 1800s. Missouri’s first pending elk hunt this fall comes after years of restoration efforts of the native species by MDC, numerous partners including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and many supporters including local communities and area landowners. Learn more about elk restoration in Missouri at short.mdc.mo.gov/ZYJ.