east TN elk sightings?

[Wooden Arrow]

anyone else bumping into any elk here in east TN ? i've seen two, a cow and a 4x4 bull (both in Hawkins County), plus heard a bugle at ORNL last time i was drawn there. i told a warden at the checking station about it and he said "oh god, please don't shoot him!"

 

[huvrman]

Had a cow roaming around the Monterey/cookeville area preseason. Haven't heard whether it was shot or not but you can take one incidental to deer hunting as long as you are not in one of the counties where permits are issued to hunt them. the rationale is fish and game doesn't want them spreading outside the designated habitat areas set up as part of the herd management program. Just have to call TWRA after you shoot it so they can do whatever data collection they need to do. Can you imagine how much meat you'd get off one of them?

 

[Omega]

I've had some questions regarding "incidental" taking of elk and other game with that status. If outside the permitted counties, can you actively hunt them, calls, stalking etc? Or is it only if they come by while hunting?

 

[Black Titan]

anyone else bumping into any elk here in east TN ? i've seen two, a cow and a 4x4 bull (both in Hawkins County), plus heard a bugle at ORNL last time i was drawn there. i told a warden at the checking station about it and he said "oh god, please don't shoot him!"

I heard one bugle as well when I was on the Oak Ridge hunt in November.

Supposedly the neighbors up the hill from me saw a "horse" drinking out of their pond one day. When they went out to see if they could get a closer look, turned out it was a big elk cow that ran off. This is in the Dyllis area of Roane County/Harriman.

BT

 

[knightrider]

See several around here but im in the restoration county, dang environmental and farming nightmare if they set up shop on your place and your deer will be gone!

 

[Biggun4214]

There's a few elk around Hartford and Cosby in Cocke County. One occasionally gets hit on I-40 between the Hartford exit and the NC state line.