Kentucky Elk
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: SJJ
26-Feb-15
I'm interested in hearing about the elk situation/hunting in KY. There seems to be almost nothing on the bowsite regarding it.
From: Fuzzy
26-Feb-15
try the Kentucky State Forum. The herd is healthy and expanding, and there are several tags awarded each year in a lottery draw. odds to draw are decent, success rates are high.
From: kyhunter13
26-Feb-15
It's a very political situation here in my.....
From: dmann
26-Feb-15
The elk seem to be doing really well here, althoughi dont think the odds of drawing are all that great. Im still sending my donations every year though.
From: cityhunter
26-Feb-15
not much of hunt !!
From: ohiohunter
26-Feb-15
The non resident draw odds are so terrible it would be comparable to drawing all of my "once in a lifetime" hunts here in NM at the same time... even the ones I didn't apply for.
Now if I were a Res... you bet your ace I'd be all over it.
From: kyhunter13
26-Feb-15
It is nothing but a money game for the FW. The odds keep going down and the profit keeps going up.....
From: cityhunter
26-Feb-15
does any one have info when the last elk walked ky years ago
From: TEmbry
26-Feb-15
I wouldn't go as far as to say it's not much of a hunt...
I applied for like 10 years straight and never drew as a resident. I know others who have drawn multiple times. I'm moving west this summer though so this will be the first year I don't apply.
From: INDBowhunter2
26-Feb-15
I drew NR cow tag in 2010. Very tough hunt, but they were in the process of trapping cows out of the unit I was hunting and relocating them to Missouri, supposedly. Now I could have killed some prenty decent bulls from the cab of the truck driving up into the mines. Bulls everywhere. Cows, not so much, at least in the unit I hunted.
From: Buskill
26-Feb-15
Now I'm curious....why are KY elk " not much of a hunt " ?
From: cityhunter
26-Feb-15
Indbow elk in missouri ? Bushkill they are not the most wild creatures very limited hunting pressure makes them less wild ! Same in PA i have seen some good bulls there but they seem very docile compared to ones out west ! Hunting elk in cornfields wouldnt seem like fun .
From: Zuba
26-Feb-15
28 of them were trapped this week so then can come to Wisconsin and be wolf food...
From: Buskill
26-Feb-15
Gotcha. Never really heard anyone talk about hunting them much ( in KY). I've only hunted them in Idaho and boy were they ever wary !! Anxious to go back...
From: cityhunter
26-Feb-15
Zuba any idea when Wis had elk last ?
From: INDBowhunter2
26-Feb-15
City I texted you a link with some info of the Missouri restoration. I think some Kentucky elk were sent to Arkansas as well.
From: Zuba
27-Feb-15
Cityhunter, it looks like it was mostly done in the mid to late 90's. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/elk.html
From: mixed bag
27-Feb-15
Iagree totally with Cityhunter and that's why I never tried to draw a Pa elk tag.All those states can do the reintro thing but my money will always go west to hunt elk.PA has some giant bulls,but I'd be happier with a wild raghorn then one of those elk
From: SJJ
27-Feb-15
Yes, I was reading bout them sending some elk to MO. My friend here in upstate NY shot a great bull in PA and I believe it stood as #1 for 5 years. Watched him come across a river from a "no hunting" side to the legal side....gun
From: Huntcell
27-Feb-15
I think he is asking about last trime Ky and Wis had elk in pioneer days
Was stretch of time from late 1800's till now that there were no free range elk in either state
Wis and Ky started there modern day herds about same time
Wis herd has never been more than two hundred were as Ky has thousands now
After twenty years Wi program is still in feasibility stage
REALLY
From: cityhunter
27-Feb-15
huntcell thanks
From: KY EyeBow
27-Feb-15
I'm a KY resident and have been applying ever since the draw started back about 12 years ago and haven't been drawn. From looking at the odds of drawing a bull tag, I believe it to be a once in a lifetime tag, even for us residents to hunt a bull. Cow tags are easier to draw as you might imagine, but not easy. The success rates are high and there are some good elk taken. I believe our record is somewhere around 370-380. They say we have around 10K elk now but I do hear quite a few folks that live in East KY state that the herd seems to have diminished lately. Not sure why other than KY seems to want to give away a lot of elk to other states like WI, MO, VA, etc. I hope to draw one day, but don't anticipate it to be a hunt like I would experience when I go to CO, WY, etc. Hope that answers some of your all's questions.
From: kyhunter13
27-Feb-15
I know people who have drawn multiple times...... Which to me is not fair..... That's just my opinion
From: cityhunter
27-Feb-15
how many tags issued do they auction any
From: Fuzzy
27-Feb-15
cityhunter, it's all right here:
http://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Documents/2015elkdrawinstructions.pdf
From: Fuzzy
27-Feb-15
btw, thanks for the reminder, I just applied :-)
From: Fuzzy
27-Feb-15
"The last eastern elk was shot in Pennsylvania on September 1, 1877.[1][2] The subspecies was declared extinct by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1880.[3] Another subspecies of elk, the Merriam's elk, also became extinct at roughly the same time."
This was cut and paste from Wikipedia, if you're choosy I can find a "harder" source.
From: Fuzzy
27-Feb-15
well cool..there go my tags, lol
From: cityhunter
27-Feb-15
Fuzzy thanks i would assume if once in PA they must have been in NY
From: mixed bag
27-Feb-15
I wish the western states were as generous as PA is with NR.Everyone has the same chance of drawing an elk tag here not this 10% or 20% crap.And most bulls shot here are 400".So what if you call them in by shaking a can of corn instead of a mouth call,lol
From: SJJ
28-Feb-15
Cityhunter...yes, absolutley Elk were in NY. Check out the NYS Museum if your ever in Albany....full mounts in there among other cool stuff
From: cityhunter
28-Feb-15
thanks sjj will do
From: TEmbry
28-Feb-15
Describing Eastern Kentucky as hunting in a cornfield is about as accurate as saying you are heading to the desert to chase Caribou.
Definitely a high success hunt due to low tag numbers, but it's still chasing elk in the mountains...
From: cityhunter
28-Feb-15
Tembry so its a tough hunt?
From: Bou'bound
28-Feb-15
tough is relative, but it is probably not as tough as sitting in a tree in iowa and waiting for a deer to pass by
From: HPO
28-Feb-15
I apply yearly as a NR. One day I'll be chosen-right?
From: cityhunter
28-Feb-15
HPO good luck
From: Nick Muche
28-Feb-15
"well 50 of them are coming to Wis, to establish a new herd, in central Wis, to assist our growing wolf population, with their diets"
So damn true. What a mess...
From: kyrob
28-Feb-15
Here's the link for elk results for 2014 here in KY. Depending on where you are hunting, depends a lot on how the elk act. We hunted 16 days on a 40,000 acre piece of private land and saw cows 1 day. We had archery cow tags. Could have killed bulls nearly every day but the cows were not coming into the open areas. We filled 1 tag in another county and had 1 other decent chance but they were tough this year. Some of the outfitters with leased properties had good success rates. Anyway, the elk aren't as easy as some think and they seem to be acting more like elk every year.
http://app.fw.ky.gov/harvestweb/ElkResults.aspx
From: TEmbry
28-Feb-15
I already said I never got drawn for over a decade as a resident. I know people who went and said it was no cake walk. I also know people who went and killed the first day. The hunt depends on if you have land access and the amount of scouting you put in/pay for.
There are certainly just as easy hunts out west for wapiti. I've even seen elk in Ag fields out in Montana :)
From: Fuzzy
03-Mar-15
I hunted them in Wise County VA a couple years, before they closed elk hunting in Wise/Buchanan Counties...saw lots of sign but never smelled an elk
