“Tennessee’s majestic elk are back, thanks to the vision and dedication of Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA) officials and the hunters and other conservationists who finance the effort.” That declaration comes from a recent article posted by the Lebanon Democrat.
Tennessee began elk restoration efforts in 2000. Only nine years later, TWRA approved a limited elk hunt. Since that time, hunters harvested 33 bull elk.
TWRA’s elk restoration program is financed by hunters who apply and pay for tags. More than 8,600 hunters applied for 14 available tags for the 2017 hunt. The fifteenth tag, auctioned off on eBay, went to an out-of-state hunter for $15,000. Those funds go directly toward elk restoration.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation assisted with the successful restoration of elk in Tennessee as well as efforts in Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada.