COMPTON - Sixteen Arkansas hunters will be in the rugged Buffalo River country seeking elk Dec. 5 through Dec. 9. They are the winners among over 9,000 Arkansans who applied for the free permits this year.
There will also be elk hunting on some private lands in the area in Newton, Boone and Carroll counties. There is a quota of five elk for the private land hunt, with permits issued through a different process. The period for applying for both types of elk permits ended earlier this year.
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 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.
Youth Elk Hunt Permit Winner:
* Cole Ellison, Winslow, Zone 3
December Bull Elk Hunt Permit Winners:
* Kenneth Oliver, Rosston, Zone 1
* Brian Smoke, Bismarck, Zone 2
* William Smith, Texarkana, Zone 4
December Antlerless Elk Hunt Permit Winners:
* Larry Fletcher, Timbo, Zone 1
* Leslie Johnson, Mammoth Spring, Zone 1
* Mark Zimmerman, North Little Rock, Zone 1
* Edgar Hill, Warren, Zone 2
* Gerald Yanker, North Little Rock, Zone 2
* Paula Scott, Waldron, Zone 2
* Kevin Sears, Jacksonville, Zone 3
* Manny Sepulveda, Rogers, Zone 3
* Ronnie Doyle, Diaz, Zone 3
* Celeste McCollum, Alma, Zone 4
* Claude Glen McCool, Prattsville, Zone 4
* Charles Gann Sr., Clinton, Zone 4
