Area groups working together to reintroduce elk in Missouri

There was a time, over a century ago, when elk roamed freely throughout Missouri.

Through a combination of urban progress, over-hunting and market hunting, the elk population in the state dwindled, and eventually died down to zero.

In recent years, the Missouri Department of Conservation, with cooperation from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, have returned elk to the region.

Beginning in 2010, over the course of three years, 107 elk were brought over from Kentucky, where they are plentiful, and reintroduced to a parcel of land in southern Missouri: a 346-square-mile elk restoration zone that encompasses parts of Carter, Shannon and Reynolds counties and includes the 23,000-acre Peck Ranch Conservation Area. The region was selected because of its low road density and population and its high proportion of public land.

Since their reintroduction to Missouri, elk repopulation has been slow but steady.

"A conservative estimate of the population would right now be about 125 elk," says David Hasenbeck, elk program manager for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The slow growth is because the MDC could not bring full-grown bull elk.

"We did move a couple of young bulls, but for the most part it was cows and calves, so it took a couple of years to grow mature bulls into the population," Hasenbeck says.

Now that the elk are established and breeding rates normalized, the MDC can gather data on reproduction and calf survival.

"With good data we can have a good model, and that's going to lead to better management decisions in the future," Hasenbeck says.

Elk at Peck Ranch feed along Road 1. (Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation)

He says the MDC is dedicated to restoring native species to Missouri whenever possible, but strong community interest was a factor in the MDC's efforts.

"There's a whole community of folks that like to see native species restored for ecological reasons," he says. "Then there are folks who have an interest just because they're a large species that folks identify with wilderness -- they're kind of a nice flagship species." And much of the interest, he adds, comes from the sporting public, those interested in recreational hunting.

Among them is Robert Lukefahr, chairman of the Southeast Missouri chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The new chapter began meeting in April and is working on an upcoming fundraising banquet.

Lukefahr says the RMEF is focused on preserving land in every state where elk have resided "from West Virginia all the way to California." Through fundraising, the organization raises money for elk conservation, land preservation and public education.

Fifty percent of the money stays in Missouri, Lukefahr says, while the other half benefits efforts in other states. These efforts provide funding geared toward wildlife conservation and preservation, easements to allow hunting access, and educational initiatives like school archery programs and hunter safety programs.

Hasenbeck says efforts from organizations like the RMEF directly affect the MDC. Fundraising dollars have been used for radio collars for the first released elk, and for high-priority public and private land projects.

"We're using those dollars right here in the state. We're using them on projects that directly affect where the elk are," he says. "The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has been an invaluable partner, among others, through this whole process."

Hasenbeck is unsure when elk hunting will be allowed in Missouri, but says the species could be biologically ready by 2019 or 2020.

"When the population gets somewhere over 200, and if the sex ratio of males to females looks good, and the population is growing well, we'll probably start releasing permits through some sort of limited draw process," he says. "It's too early to tell when we would release a season, but our agency is certainly interested in offering the opportunity out to the public."

"Now it's just a matter of waiting," Lukefahr says.

The Southeast Missouri Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation meets once a month; the next meeting is at 6 p.m. July 27, at the Jackson Civic Center. A fundraising banquet is scheduled for Aug. 27.

For more information about the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, visit rmef.org.