Hunters in Missouri take five elk in second season

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Hunters in Missouri killed five elk in the second year of hunting of the animal -- three with firearms and two during the archery portion of the hunting season.

The Missouri Department of Conservation said Monday the total matched the five elk taken in 2020. This year, the firearms elk hunting period was Dec. 11 to 19, and the archery portion ran Oct. 16 to 24.

Five hunters were chosen for elk permits through a random drawing.

The conservation department said elk are native to Missouri but were hunted to extinction in the state in the late 1800s. The number of elk have been restored through years of efforts to reintroduce the animals.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Missouri now has more than 200 elk in a range including parts of Carter, Reynolds and Shannon counties.