Wesley Wright, elk biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said Thursday at the commission's meeting in Little Rock that elk hunters last fall killed a record number of elk in 2014.
Hunters killed 52 elk in the vicinity of the Buffalo River. The previous record was 42 killed in 2012.
Last year's kill was a 30 percent increase over the 2013 season, Wright said.
The commission issued 56 elk hunting permits in 2014 that were equally divided between public and private land. The commission issued 10 either sex permits and 14 antlerless permits for public land. It issued eight either-sex permits and 20 antlerless permits for private land.
Hunters on public land killed 22 elk, including eight bulls and 14 antlerless elk. On private land they killed nine bulls and 21 antlerless elk. Keith Stephens, assistant chief of communications for the AGFC, said the additional bull was probably killed because the AGFC's quota hotline hadn't been updated when the hunter called to find out if the quota had been filled.
"We want two cows harvested for every bull, and we got real close to that this year," Wright said.
Wright also noted that hunters were equally successful on public and private land.
"We had a 93 percent success rate," Wright said. "We had a big acorn crop that elk spread out around the country. That's why so many were on private land."
Most of the elk, 32, were killed in Searcy County, followed by Newton County (17), Boone County (2) and Madison County (1).
The three hunters who won the elk permits that the AGFC donates to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation and Arkansas Wildlife Federation were successful. Witt Stephens III won the AGFF youth permit for $4,700. He killed a 4x5 bull. Ryley McQuiston won the Arkansas Wildlife Federation youth permit for $4,200. He killed a 6x8 bull in Bearcat Hollow. Stephen Davenport won the RMEF permit for $15,000. He killed a 6x6 bull.
Wright said the funds generated from the auctioned permits restore and improve elk habitat in Arkansas.
Don McKenzie of Ward, director of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, also briefed the commission on the organization's efforts to create and restore bobwhite quail habitat in the 25 states, including Arkansas, that comprise the bobwhite's traditional range.
Loss of bobwhite quail habitat has diminished populations of at least 18 grassland songbirds, McKenzie said, as well as pollinators like bees and butterflies.
"Bobwhite hunting is a part of life in the South," McKenzie said. "It's as much a part of life in the South as barbecue, NASCAR, fried catfish and SEC football. In our generation we're letting that tradition slip through the cracks. It is fading, and that is a problem."
Sports on 02/20/2015