Ok, draw is open. Never tried before. If you had a choice, what areas would try to draw. I've just started to study the zones. Good luck all.
I'm thinking at the Hatfield elk viewing tower, plenty of elevation and a roof in case it rains, If I get lucky just cut the lock off the gate drive back and get it, that is how they do it in E Tn right? 
It don't matter. I've put in every year since it started and haven't been drawn.
I'm in. I forgot to put in last year. Thanks for the reminder
Just put in for it and KY also
Shanman
Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting this, forgot the turkey quota as life has been busy this year. 
I've put in for Elk since it started and no luck but my cousin and a coworker both scored several years ago on this hunt, one gun and one archery.
I've put in for Elk since it started and no luck but my cousin and a coworker both scored several years ago on this hunt, one gun and one archery.WestTn Huntin man
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I'm starting to wonder what I'll do if I ever get drawn. After I get over the shock I'll have to Hollar at Tn. Deer for some help.
this
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No reason to have these short time periods to enter the drawing....people forget and agency just loses money....My .02.
KY has been open for months. I probably put in when bought my license and did quota draws last fall, but I cant remember. :)
KY has been open for months. I probably put in when bought my license and did quota draws last fall, but I cant remember. :)
There IS a reason. People actually requested this due to knowing that this would likely be a OIL draw for anyone fortunate to draw it. If I were to draw it I would want to know before I put in for draws and burning my points for places out west that are difficult to draw, but not as difficult as TN's.
Maybe they could start it earlier, but I appreciate them ending it when they do
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The application period for the 2025 elk quota hunts is Feb 5 – 26, 2025.
Understood....but the time to enter is less than a month. It is like they just want people to miss applying and generate less revenue. That increases my odds, but not a great business decision imo.
I get it. Maybe they should open it earlier, but I also agree that it should theoretically help our odds… but I don't really know since I can't seem to find the application numbers since 2020. Numbers up to 2020 are posted on their website, but a lot of things have changed since then. Maybe they are posted somewhere else, but who knows since I cannot get anyone from their office to call me back to discuss this.
TWRA has done a good thing with the elk draws, but they do not do it with excellence. I do appreciate them bumping the draw dates back to earlier in the year, though
DeerCamp
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I did the math a few years back.
Best I can recall odds of being drawn range from around once every 100 years to around once every 1000 years depending on whether you put in for bow or rifle.
Sounds about right. Wish Twra would consider expanding hunting opportunities. South Cherokee would be a contender for an expanding elk population.
DeerCamp
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Some of the draw data can be found online but they haven't updated since 2020 and there is no info for the new EHZs added a few years back. I was told the new Elk Biologist is getting the numbers together to publish updated statistics but he was in the field when I tried to call.
To your point, there are somewhere between 450-500 Elk estimated to be in Tennessee in the EHZs. On an annual basis, 10-12 are killed.
Going low/high that's about 2.7% harvest of total population of Elk
Deer are closer to 18% harvest annually.
My "guess" based on Elk density in Kentucky is that Tennessee's EHZ could support around 1600 Elk. Maybe they are being conservative to try and get there quicker.
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I will take 1 out of 800 odds for a specific area and weapon type draw vs. 1 out of perhaps 30,000 anytime. Those are roughly the odds based on my understanding from previous quota draws for TN vs. KY. But, math makes my head hurt.
DeerCamp
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They only released 50 in 2000.
Below is their population estimate graph 2006-2016.
What isn't clear is why their estimate in 2009 was so high, but so low in 2012. This doesn't look like great data collection to me. By their own admission, these Elk population estimates have a low confidence interval.
"The 2016 population survey resulted in an estimate of 349 elk, yet the upper and lower confidence limits were 195.9 and 636.1 animals, respectively."
That's a very poor confidence limit for a low-complexity system, and more akin to a guess than a scientific estimate. Also, they are also using a linear trend line, but that's not how population growth works, it's exponential. More elk = more elk faster.
According to this graph, which I have little confidence in, the elk population:
* Doubled in 3 years from 2006-2009
* Dropped back down in 2010
* No growth between 2010 - 2014
Summary: TWRA has no idea how many Elk there are. Extrapolating 2016 data to today, there should be significantly more than 450 Elk.
Strictly from an analytical perspective, and considering that about 100 Bull Elk have been harvested, I think the actual number of Elk today should be closer to 650, which is just about the upper level of their confidence limit in 2016.
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For the first several years they were roaming out of the area a lot and were practically starving to death. There was a report detailing that at one time but it wasn't good press. Malnutrition was the cause of death for quite a few in that report.
There was a elk killed on a deer hunt at Catoosa this year, it was a legal kill. found 1 field and got out and looked it over, elk tracks and poop all over it so they are spreading out, I would have voted to put them there first, more grass lands with the work they have done over the last 20 or so years.
They have done better in KY due all the reclaimed mines being turned into large food plots/better habitat and overall less populated areas. There is just not enough open areas to grow the population where everyone would like it to be in N Cumberland area. KY elk started just 4 years earlier than TN did in 1997 vs 2001 for TN. They will spread out slowly and will start end up on a lot of private in the future I believe. I have seen them on a private down low in Anderson CO. I like the earlier app window, let people make plans and schedule vacation time way out for a once in lifetime opportunity. If you do not remember then you are not that serious about it anyway. I apply in about 12 states total for all sorts of big game and somehow remember every year. A month sometimes two months for western states is the standard app window.
Bullit
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We need to relocate some more elk like all the other states are doing and get our population up. TWRA needs to spend some of that money that they have been wasting on maintenance and do some restocking.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Put in for TN, KY and Virginia elk draw every year. Understanding its low odds but consider it a donation to the elk restoration efforts.
Shanman
Well-Known Member
They need to log some of that mature stuff first, would help everything more than burns I believe.
