Third Elk Hunt set to get underway

Nashville, TN – The third-ever managed elk hunt in Tennessee is scheduled to begin Monday, October 17th and will continue through Friday, October 21st as five persons will be seeking a trophy at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area.

Four persons, all Tennessee residents, were selected in a computer drawing from 6,840 applicants for this year’s hunt. The participants drawn for this year’s hunt are Richard R. Rutherford of Walland, Terrell S. Holt of Columbia, John Mark Alston of Knoxville, and Jody A. Moore of Loudon.

The fifth participant is LaVergne resident Arthur Moreland. He was the high bidder in online auction for the final permit. The final permit was donated to a Non-Governmental Organization, which this year was the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation. The TWRF auctioned the final permit with proceeds from the auction going to the elk restoration program.

For the hunt, the North Cumberland WMA is being divided into five elk hunting zones, each about 8,000 acres. The division helps ensure the harvest is spread over the entire core of the elk zone. Each hunter will be assigned a zone through a random hand-held drawing.

All five participants harvested an elk in the inaugural hunt in 2009. Three of the participants had harvests in last year’s hunt.

Studies have proven that the elk herd is seeing an annual growth rate of 13-15 percent. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has worked to make habitat improvements at North Cumberland WMA to aid the elk in adapting to their new home since the first arrival of 50 animals in December 2000, the first elk to be in Tennessee since they were reported in Obion County in 1865.