(This 8×8 bull weighed 755 pounds)
By Jackie Rosenberger/DWR
It’s hard to believe another year has passed and Virginia’s second managed elk hunt, held the third week of October, has ended. This hunt was another huge success thanks to an army of landowners, volunteers, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) staff, and an awesome cohort of hunters. Each hunter was successful in harvesting a bull in Buchanan County. DWR relies on private landowners in Buchanan County because no public land with elk hunting opportunities exists in the Elk Management Zone. Twenty landowners enrolled in the Elk Landowner License Program, and a few additional landowners allowed access for elk hunters without enrollment. As a result, almost 17,000 acres were available for elk hunting.
The role of landowners doesn’t stop there, however. Some of the landowners and other volunteers put in a tremendous amount of work both during the hunt and in the months leading up to it. They scouted properties, met with hunters, served as volunteer guides during the hunt, and assisted in retrieving harvested elk and transporting to the check station. As a biologist, I was very excited to once again have six whole elk brought to the check station for a live weight measurement and collection of other samples. This was a testament to everyone’s hard work and team effort.
Weight was determined for a harvested bull at the elk check station in Grundy, Virginia, while onlookers from the public, volunteers, and staff gathered around.
The smallest bull, a 2 ½ -year-old, weighed 526 pounds and the largest bull, whose age will be determined later weighed 755 pounds. One bull sported a small metal ear tag that was not visible to the hunter until after harvest. The tag indicated the bull was original to the Virginia elk restoration, when DWR translocated 75 elk from Kentucky to Buchanan County, Virginia. He was brought to Virginia as a 2-year-old in 2014, making him 11.5 years old at harvest. Another of the harvested bulls was wearing cattle tags from an encounter in January 2023, when DWR staff had to chemically immobilize and free him from a batting cage at a local park in which his antlers were stuck. It was very rewarding for staff to see their efforts to save the bull were not only successful but came full circle during the hunt.
All six hunters had a deep respect and appreciation for the opportunity they were afforded. DWR randomly selected five hunters from the 24,378 elk lottery applicants and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation randomly selected the sixth hunter through a separate raffle per the Elk Conservation License Program. All but one of the hunters were Virginia residents.
We are still growing the elk population and have plenty of room for population expansion within the Elk Management Zone. The purpose of the hunt is not for population control, rather it is about providing recreational opportunities for hunters. The elk population in Buchanan County is abundant enough that the harvest of six bulls on an annual basis would not limit population growth. Plus, the timing of the hunt is such that most of the breeding should be finished prior to hunters hitting the ground. Reaching a point where we can offer elk hunting opportunities is a huge success for the elk program and was a main goal of the elk restoration in the first place.