 COMPTON
– With temperatures finally forecast to dip below freezing, it's finally
starting to feel a little more like hunting season. Sixteen Arkansas
hunters will be taking advantage of the colder weather to hunt in the
rugged Buffalo River country seeking elk Dec. 4 through Dec. 8.
The elk hunting will be on public lands of the Buffalo National River
and the AGFC's Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area, as well as adjacent
private lands within Elk Zones 1 through 4. The private lands elk
hunting will take place on property in Newton, Boone and Carroll
counties. The closely monitored limited permit hunt is part of
Arkansas's elk restoration success story.
Elk were native to Arkansas but were wiped out more than a century ago
by land clearing and by settlers using them for food. In 1981, the late
Hilary Jones of Pruitt (Newton County) led an effort to bring the big
animals back to Arkansas.
 Over
several years, 112 elk were imported, mostly from Colorado but a few
from Nebraska. They have increased to an estimated 450 elk, with limited
hunting since 1998 helping to keep their numbers within the capacity of
the land along the Buffalo River.
Of the 20 permits authorized each year for public land hunting, two are
issued through fund-raising activities of the Rocky Mountain Elk
Foundation, with most of the proceeds returned to Arkansas for elk
program work. Applications for the other 18 permits are free, as are the
permits themselves, but many hunters support the program by sending
along donations designated for elk project work. These donations do not
improve a hunter's chance of winning a permit.
On the private land hunt, applicants for
permits must first obtain written permission of a landowner who owns
land within the private land zone. These permits cost $35.
Hunters in the December hunt are:
Youth Elk Hunt Permit
Tanner Nichols, Jonesboro, Zone 3, Either - Sex
Bull Elk Hunt Permits
Derrek Nokes, Prescott, Zone 1
James Corley, Maumelle, Zone 2
Rachel Ornsbey, Rover, Zone 4
Antlerless Elk Hunt Permits
Zone 1
Eric Francis, Fayetteville
John Gillihan, Batesville
Dalton Woods, Huntsville
Zone 2
Roy Prouty, Mountain Home
William McCutcheon, Jacksonville
Belynda Bailey, Waldron
Zone 3
Chad Binz, Ozark
Larry Hopkins, Mountain View
Laura James, Garfield
Zone 4
Shane Cooper, Clarksville
Sheila Schulze, Elkins
Josiah Goodman, Green Forest |