First Missouri Elk Taken in the Modern Era Is Found By One of the State s First Bear Hunters

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First Missouri Elk Taken in the Modern Era Is Found By One of the State s First Bear Hunters

First Missouri Elk Taken in Modern Era Found By State’s First Bear Hunter

Chris Irick of Pleasant Hope harvested the first elk by archery in Missouri’s modern era of hunting.

In a developing story, Chris Irick of Pleasant Hope is the first Missouri bowhunter to take a bull elk in the state’s modern hunting era, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Irick shot the 6×6 bull in Shannon County on Oct. 18. The bull was found on Oct. 19 by a bear hunter participating in the first-ever black bear hunt. The hunter immediately called the MDC, and Conservation agent Logan Brawley was dispatched to the scene. As Brawley arrived to check on the elk, he heard Irick yelling but couldn’t see him. Irick had climbed a tree to get cell phone service and report his harvest to MDC via “Telecheck.”

According to the MDC Facebook report, the meat from Irick’s bull elk is fine due to cool overnight temperatures and will make delicious meals for friends and family in the coming months.

Missouri’s first modern elk hunts come after years of restoration efforts of the once-native species by MDC and its partners and supporters of big game hunting.

First Missouri Elk Taken in the Modern Era Is Found By One of the State s First Bear Hunters

For this first elk season, MDC has designated a nine-day archery portion running from Oct. 17-25 and a nine-day firearms portion running from Dec 12-20.

Very limited state permits for bull elk are available for both hunting seasons. All permits were assigned through a random-lottery drawing.

“The timing of the [elk] season was designed to come after the peak of elk breeding during late September and early October and to avoid the elk season coinciding with portions of the firearms deer season,” explained MDC Elk and Deer Biologist Aaron Hildreth.

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It’s noteworthy that a bear hunter first discovered Irick’s bull elk in Missouri’s bear hunting zone 2, since the state’s first modern-era black bear season had opened on Oct. 18. Two Missouri bears were harvested on opening day, Oct. 18, with a third collected on Oct. 19. All three bears were from Zone 1 in Southwest Missouri.

The Missouri bear season, like the elk season, has been years in the planning, with only portions in the southern part of the state opened in three zones for bear harvest.