| Walton Short completes Arkansas elk hunting 'circuit' |
 SILVER
HILL - Elk hunter Walton Short of Magnolia completed his goal of an
Arkansas "circuit" Tuesday, Sept. 27, with a trophy 6x6 bull near the
Tyler Bend area of the Buffalo National River.Short, who was hunting Arkansas elk for the sixth time, had a goal of getting a bull in each of the four zones of public land elk hunting in Arkansas. He did it late Tuesday morning. Short is 81, and elk hunting is his hobby. He has extensive timber interest in south Arkansas and has successfully bid on one of two elk permits issues through Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation fund-raising auctions for six years. He has taken a bull elk all six years. Hunting Arkansas elk have become considerably more challenging than when the seasons began in 1998. The elk are wary, and their range is rugged. After getting his bull, which weighed about 750 pounds, Short pointed to guide Todd Weiszbrod and said, "He called the bull right up to me." Weiszbrod is based in Montrose, Colo., and is a veteran of elk hunts in the West. He has guided for Short on the Buffalo River previously, too. Short was hunting in Elk Zone 4, which is in Searcy County, the easternmost of the four public land elk zones. He was near the Tyler Bend area of the Buffalo National River. He said, "This bull was with some cows and some little bulls when we first saw them. Todd called, and the other elk went one way and this bull the other way. There was a bigger bull, we think, back behind them, but like they say, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, so I shot this one."  The
2005 elk hunt opened Monday, Sept. 26, with four hunters having won
permits either at Elk Foundation auctions or through the public
application and drawing process which this year attracted about 9,000
applicants. Most of the proceeds from the Elk Foundation auctions are
returned to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for elk habitat work
on the Buffalo National River and on the AGFC's Gene Rush Wildlife
Management Area.One of the four public land permit winners could not participate because of illness. Eugene Raby of Marshall took the season's first elk early Monday morning, Sept. 26. He was hunting in the private land segment of the hunt. There is a quota of five elk for this, which 76 hunters buying $35 permits after they had obtained written permission from landowners. Raby shot his spike bull in the Hilltop area of southern Boone County on the private land segment of the hunt. He used a Ruger 7mm Magnum rifle, and the elk weighed about 350 pounds. He was hunting with his brother, James Raby of Batavia. Late Tuesday night, Bob Wood of Monitor, Wash. killed a 6x6 bull on Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area. The current hunt will conclude Friday, Sept. 30, or sooner if all permits and the quota are filled. |
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