[MUSIC] Aaron Hildreth: Elk are certainly a large,
charismatic animal, they’re fun to see.
David Hasenbeck: This is a really exciting time for elk, because people will see an animal
they haven’t seen in 150 years.
[ELK BUGLING SOUND] Aaron: The first time you hear an elk bugling
on a nice, crisp fall morning, it sends chills up your back.
David: Everything’s looking good, growth’s picking up, the public is very pleased with
the project.
Aaron: All of the wildlife resources in the state really are owned by all Missourians.
They’re held in the public’s trust.
Missouri Department of Conservation is the agency that makes sure those resources are
managed for the betterment of wildlife, of forestry, of fish and for the betterment of
Missourians.
David: Based upon our mandate to restore native species and a lot of citizen input, in July
of 2010, the Conservation Commission approved a plan to go ahead with an elk reintroduction,
and by the winter of 2010, we had staff working with Kentucky Game and Fish, personnel trapping
elk in Kentucky.
So, over a period of three years, 2011, 2012, 2013, we released about 35 elk every year
for just over 100 elk.
Aaron: If we look from 2014 to present, the population has roughly doubled in that four-year
time span.
So right now, things are looking good and the population is growing well.
David: There’s been portions of Reynolds, Shannon, and Carter counties identified as
the elk restoration zone.
So, the intent is to keep the elk in this part of the deep Ozarks.
And it’s the perfect place for them.
It’s the highest percentage of public lands, lowest amount of roads and the lowest population
we have in the state.
It all lends itself to be the perfect place to release elk.
[TELEMNITRY SOUNDS] Aaron: Telemetry or other things that we do
related to research, that science, the information that we gain from that, helps inform what
we do on the landscape.
And it helps us to better manage the wildlife populations in the state of Missouri.
Smart management allows us to maximize the animals but also allows us to provide maximum
opportunity for the public.
David: Well Peck Ranch and our partners and other land managers in this area have a long
history of managing habitat.
The way we manage habitat on Peck Ranch is for the better of all different species.
It just so happens that the things we do benefit elk as well.
Matter of fact, some of these open woodlands you see on Peck Ranch, there’s over 90 species
of concern, so it’s a win-win situation with this open woodland management for elk
and a number of other species that are a really high priority for us ecologically.
Aaron: As the population continues to grow, we’re going to have to look at new ways
of managing that herd.
One of those tools will be regulated hunting.
David: Folks have always been supportive of the elk project.
As this population expands, I think you are going to see that support just continue to
expand.
And hunting is just one more way that the public can enjoy the elk in the area.
Aaron: The goal as we move toward a hunting season, is to make sure that all Missourians
will have the same fair and equitable opportunity at whatever permits are available.
And that those really are affordable for all Missourians.
The next step in the process is to solicit public input.
So, we really want to know from the public what are certain things that you really want
to see in the first or inaugural elk hunt in Missouri.
We want to know what the public wants in a hunt opportunity.
So, we’ll have a series of public meetings.
We’ll also have an online comment opportunity for those who are unable to attend the public
meetings.
We really do want your feedback and your input on how elk hunting in Missouri will look.
The public input process is really a continuous conversation.
We go to the public to seek their input because we truly do care.
We want their feedback.
And when we have other major changes in the future, we’ll again go right back to the
public to seek their input.
It’s very similar to the processes that we’re already familiar with fishing regulations,
with deer hunting regulations.
This is just another extension of that.
It’s part of our continual conversation with the public about the resources in the
state.
David: For this project to be successful, we have to maintain good public support and
that includes good landowner support.
We partner with landowners in a lot of ways and one of them is we also assist landowners
with habitat management, both for elk and for other species.
And that’s one way that we can continue to work with landowners and continue that
support.
We’ve got a large number of landowners that we actually work with who are directly putting
elk habitat on the ground.
One of the things I enjoy the most is when I get a call from a landowner or an e-mail
from a landowner that’s got his first photograph or his first encounter with an elk on his
property.
And it’s very rewarding to hear how happy those folks are to see those elk and that’s
a fun part of the next few years.
Over the next few years as the elk expand, we’re going to have a lot of folks exposed
to the elk for the first time.
[MUSIC] Aaron: We encourage Missourians to take advantage
of the opportunity to see these animals.
They really are fairly visible on publicly owned land.
So, you don’t have to get special permission to go see them.
You can just drive down here and see elk in the wild in Missouri, where they haven’t
been for 150 years.
It’s just a really cool opportunity.
[ELK BUGLING SOUND]