Are There Elk in Missouri?

Between the late 1800s and the year 2011, there were no elk in Missouri. However, thanks to years of planning and hard work by the Missouri Department of Conservation and numerous partners, the state of Missouri once again has free ranging herd of wild elk. As of 2020, the Missouri elk herd numbered around 200 animals in Carter, Reynolds, and Shannon counties.

The Elk is a native species in the show me state. Lewis and Clark recorded seeing elk when their Corps. of Discovery passed through the territory that would later become Missouri in 1804. What’s more, the accounts of early pioneers talked about the plentiful game, including elk in Missouri’s Ozarks. Source

Missouri became a state in 1820. As it became settled, unregulated hunting and habitat destruction expatriated elk from the state by 1865.

Destruction and restoration of other game populations

The Missouri Department of Conservation has a history of years of restoration efforts of the native species. They also have several resounding success stories.

Missouri’s black bears became expatriated from the state by the mid-1900s. Fast forward to the recent past; in 2019, the Missouri Department of Conservation estimated that there were 540-840 black bears in the state, with the population growing by approximately 9% annually. The state held its first ever officially sanctioned bear season in 2021.

In 1925, there were only around 400 white-tailed deer left in the entire state. All deer hunting in Missouri was curtailed for a time. Today, thanks to MDC deer management, the animals have rebounded in the state in a big way. They have employed a combination of importing deer from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin along with improved management practices. Today, Missouri has an estimated 1.4 million deer. What’s more, hunters harvest around 300,000 of them annually.

In the early 1950s, there were only 2,500 wild turkeys left in the state of Missouri. The Missouri Department of Conservation began a campaign of habitat management along with trapping and transplanting of birds to areas with underutilized habitat. all this resulted in a real conservation success story. Because today there are 300,000 to 400,000 wild turkeys in the state.

Bringing elk back to Missouri

In 1999 and 2000, the Missouri Department of Conservation partnered with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to do a survey. The survey’s objective was to see if the majority of residents wanted elk brought back to the state. Per the survey, the majority of the general public was in favor of re-establishing elk in Missouri.

Feasibility study

In the year 2000, the Missouri Department of Conservation embarked on a feasibility study on re-establishing elk. They were initially concerned that the state no longer had a sufficient amount of suitable elk habitat. Additionally, they were concerned that elk would bring chronic wasting disease into the state.

Minimizing health risks

To resolve any fears of chronic wasting disease, they decided that any elk that they brought into the state would first have to undergo a rigorous medical evaluation. What’s more, they would accomplish this while they held them in quarantine for three months.

Missouri elk restoration zone

For suitable habitat, they settled on a remote area of the Missouri Ozarks as they could come up with. This area consists of 346 square miles in southeastern Missouri. It is called the Missouri elk restoration zone. This elk restoration zone lies in parts of Carter County, Shannon County, and Reynolds County and has the Peck Ranch Conservation Area at its heart. The Missouri Conservation department decided that this was the most ideal site. The reasons being that it has an ideal mixture of habitats made up of mostly public land with a low number of roads and has a low density of agricultural use.

On October 15, 2010, the 4-member board of the Missouri Conservation Commission, which sets policy for the Missouri Department of Conservation, approved a plan to bring as many as 150 elk to the state in the coming year.

In 2011, the Missouri Department of Conservation introduced the first group of elk back into the state These elk were captured in Kentucky. They “soft” released the elk in the 23,763-acre Peck Ranch conservation area. In a soft release, they kept the elk in holding pens in the Peck Ranch refuge while they acclimated to their new surroundings from May 5th through June 2nd. From there, on June 2nd, they opened the gates to their holding pens, and Missouri had the start to its restored herd of free ranging elk.

First Missouri elk hunt in modern history

Missouri’s wildlife officials set 3 benchmarks that had to be met before an elk hunt could go on.

• The elk herd had to have a minimum of 200 animals.
• The elk herd had to have a 10% minimum annual herd growth rate
• The elk herd had to have a bull/cow herd ratio of at least 4 cow elk to every bull.

After a decade of restoration efforts, the Missouri Department of Conservation conducted its first elk hunt in modern history in 2020. The state awarded Elk-hunting permits to 5 lucky Missouri residents who participated in a random drawing. There were no non-resident elk permits.

The state’s 2020 elk hunt was split into 2 segments. The first was a nine-day archery portion which ran from Oct. 17th to Oct. 25th. The second was a nine-day firearms portion that ran from Dec. 12th to Dec. 20th. None of the 5 hunters were successful in the archery season. However, they all tagged bulls during the firearms portion of the hunt.

Joe Benthall of Mount Vernon, Missouri, harvested the first bull elk in the first sanctioned elk hunt in modern Missouri history on Dec. 12, 2020, near Ellington, Missouri.

The second Missouri elk season

Missouri’s second elk season took place in 2021. Once again, the state awarded 5 bull elk permits to Missouri hunters only. One of the 5 permits was reserved for qualifying area landowners, while the remaining 4 went to the general public. As with the previous year, the lucky hunter’s permit applications were chosen through a random drawing.

All permit applicants had to pay a $10 application fee, while those who were lucky enough to draw out had to pay a $50 permit fee.

Elk hunting permits were valid in all areas of Carter, Shannon, and Reynolds counties, with the exception of the refuge portion of Peck Ranch Conservation Area.

Chris Irick of Pleasant Hope, Missouri, took the first archery harvested elk in modern Missouri history in 2021. He shot the 6×6 bull on the evening of October 18th and found him early the next morning.

Once again, all 5 hunters that were lucky enough to draw a tag harvested a bull in 2021.

Missouri’s 2022 elk season

Missouri’s 2022 elk season will open on October 15th with a 9-day archery hunt and finish up with a 9-day firearms portion that will run from December 10th through the 18th. Once again, there are only 5 elk tags. One of those 5 permits was reserved for a qualifying landowner, while 4 of them were awarded to members of the general public through the same random drawing method as in the previous 2 years.