Missouri's elk population is growing

Officials: Hunting season could still be five to seven years away

Visitors of all ages browse a series of elk-related exhibits Friday morning at Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City during the "Shopping Alternatives: They're back - ELK!" event. Since their reintroduction into Missouri a few years ago, the state's free-roaming elk population continues to increase with each new generation of Missouri elk.
Visitors of all ages browse a series of elk-related exhibits Friday morning at Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City during the "Shopping Alternatives: They're back - ELK!" event. Since their reintroduction into Missouri a few years ago, the state's free-roaming elk population continues to increase with each new generation of Missouri elk.

The elk population is steadily growing, but the Missouri Department of Conservation (DOC) is still not ready to issue hunting permits for an elk season.

"It is an amazing thing to bring elk back to Missouri," said Becky Matney, naturalist with the DOC. "I believe these animals were here in pre-settlement times, and through over harvesting and other actions, they were depleted from our state. I think it is neat to bring something back that was native to our state."

In 2011, the state partnered with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to introduce elk back into the native wildlife population of Missouri. For three years after that, the state transported elk into conservation areas throughout the state. This is the first year the DOC has not shipped in new animals, said Alan Leary, DOC wildlife management coordinator.

"Currently, the population growth is relatively steady, it is not growing rapidly," Leary said. "Right now, we estimate 125 to 130 animals on the ground. ... We don't have a (hunting) season yet. We are considering numbers and potentially will have a season possibly when the population reaches 200."

Leary estimated it will take around five years to get the population that high at the rate it is growing. And during the first year of hunting, the DOC will issue anywhere from six to 10 permits that would be awarded to hunters via a random draw.

"We are really happy to have them back," Leary said. "It is great to see them. ... It is incredible to see them on the landscape; they are beautiful."

The DOC is monitoring the population carefully and placing collars on many animals to track population dynamics. The DOC officials are hoping the population grows from 15 to 18 percent annually, but that number is affected by many factors such as disease, food supply and animals growing to maturity to reproduce more, Leary said. The DOC is unaware of any elk being poached at this time.

Since it is very difficult to transfer mature bulls, adult male elks, the DOC has had to ship younger males that reproduce at a lesser rate than adults, Leary explained. The population was also hurt by a lack of food and water from the drought of 2012.

"The department is encouraging population growth with habitat improvements, or trying to create habitats that are favorable in the elk reservation zones," Leary said. "That has worked out well, it has been beneficial for the elk and other species that like that kind of habitat as well. It is more of an ecosystem approach. We are trying to help all different sorts of wildlife, but it is also beneficial to the elk."

The DOC is planting vegetation that is common to an elk's diet and trying to create landscapes that elk prefer - woodland areas not too dense. With a set of antlers that can be larger than 5 feet wide and weigh up to, or more than, 40 pounds, it is good to have some head room.

"What I find fascinating about elk is if you come here and actually feel the antlers, the size of them and the weight of them," said Matney at the alternative shopping program on Friday at the Runge Nature Center. She manned a set of tables with information about elk and some antlers to feel and carry. That is anyone who could pick up a 4-foot-long antler that weighed roughly 15 to 20 pounds.

"They actually grow these back every single year," she continued. "They shed their antlers just like whitetail deer, and they grow them back every year. With the immense size and the weight of them, you would think that would be a task for them, but it is something that the bulls have always done."

If anyone would like to see the elk in their natural habitat, there are driving trails at Peck Ranch and the Current River Conservation areas, Leary said. Spectators can remain in their cars to see the animals back in their once native environment.