Bill Cochran

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Virginia wildlife officials are poised to take a fresh look at establishing a viable elk population in far Southwest Virginia.

For more than a decade, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has followed a philosophy of “just say no” to elk out of fear that the big animals could introduce diseases in the deer population and cause damage to crops and property.

In the meanwhile, surrounding states -- Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee -- have pursued a restoration program with success. Kentucky reports that it has stocked 1,500 elk, and has built a herd of nearly 9,000 animals. Recently 37,000 hunters participated in a lottery for 400 elk hunting permits in Kentucky. At the rate of $10 per application, the lottery generated a nice chuck of change for the state’s wildlife coffers.

At a recent VDGIF meeting in Richmond, Charles Yates, board member from far Southwest Virginia, told how he had been pumped up after touring the elk corridor of Kentucky and observing enthusiasm for that state’s elk herd, not to mention seeing some huge bull bulls. He persuaded fellow board members to take an updated look at Virginia’s elk restoration philosophy.

It didn’t take much persuading. Board members were receptive; what’s more, the agency’s wildlife biologists already had been quietly considering the idea.

“I think there is an opportunity for us to build a small elk herd in perhaps three or four of our Southwestern Virginia counties where surface mining is dominant,” said Yates. “That could perhaps generate some revenue and give us more diversity of big game in the state. If that opportunity does exist I think we should take advantage of it. There would be tremendous support. It would attract a crowd.”

That brought a response from Ward Burton, board member from Halifax, who has expressed interest in elk restoration in the past.

“Elk were once here before we were here, and if it is not an issue with disease they have as much right to be here as any other wildlife,” he said.

While details are yet to be worked out, it appears that elk restoration in Virginia would not involve stocking, as was done by Kentucky officials who brought in animals from western locations. Rather, for Virginia, it would be a matter protecting the small heard already in the state and giving it an opportunity to expand. The elk themselves would be revealing what future they have in the region.

Wildlife officials estimate that there are about 60 elk in far Southwest Virginia. Most of them came across the line from Kentucky.

The request from Yates was to end the regulation in Virginia that allows hunters to kill any elk they happen across as long as there is a deer season open, which means elk are legal targets from the early October bow season to the January muzzleloading season. Even with this generous arrangement, few elk are reported killed in Virginia -- only two last season.

“I am not certain our season is doing much to control the elk herd,” said Bob Ellis, DGIF wildlife chief.

Yates' idea would move the state’s elk management objective from elimination to preservation. If the result is an expanding heard, a hunting season could be expected.

“Killing an elk on a deer tag was our way of trying to deal with un-welcomed elk from Kentucky,” said Bob Duncan, executive director of the VDGIF. Duncan has been a major advocate of taking the slow route when it comes to elk restoration.

The question, he said: “What are we going to do with them now that we’ve got some? You can only manage them to decrease them, increase them or hold them the same.”

Behind the softening approach to elk restoration is the reality that stockings in Kentucky thus far have not created disease problems.

“We have gone through two incubation periods without Chronic Wasting Disease,” said Yates.

Building the herd on reclaimed surface mining areas would help prevent crop and property damage, he said.

“These are big animals,” Yates said. “They don’t pay much attention to a fence or a cornfield. But we have counties in Southwest Virginia that have few fences or cornfields, but a heck of a lot of elk habitat.”

The next step is to mesh the request of Yates into the hunting regulation process, which is under way. No question, the feedback from the public is going to be positive.