At the same time, MDC construction workers will be busy back at home building a holding pen at Peck Ranch Conservation Area. Soon afterwards, trapping crews will begin baiting the trap with a mixture of corn, oats and molasses. Grishow said he expects the trap and holding pen in Kentucky to be completed by Christmas.
Frequent sightings of elk have kept construction crews excited about their work.
#Kentucky elk season free
On that morning, the crew had to use space heaters to free skid steers from frozen mud before work could begin. In spite of single-digit temperatures and a 14-inch snowfall, work was winding down by Dec. Construction Superintendent Richard Grishow, who supervises MDC on-site staff, said the work has progressed very quickly. Much of the area inhabited by elk is owned or controlled by timber or mining companies and is managed by the Commonwealth under special agreements.Ĭonstruction of a corral-type elk trap, holding pens and other facilities began Dec. The ratio of cows to bulls was three to one. In all, the commonwealth brought 1,549 elk from western states. Most of Kentucky’s elk are clustered around the eight sites where elk from western states were released during a five-year restoration effort from 1997 to 2002. Elk inhabit approximately 6,000 square miles of the mountainous region. The area where MDC will trap elk is on the Cumberland Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky. The Commonwealth of Kentucky generously consented to provide elk for our program, so we are preparing to help trap elk in Kentucky and bring them to Peck Ranch Conservation Area in southeast Missouri.” “Kentucky has by far the most successful elk restoration program and largest herds in the eastern United States,” said MDC Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen, “Its herds number around 10,000 across 16 counties. The first step in implementing the plan was to find a state willing to share its elk. In October, the Conservation Commission directed MDC staff to restore elk to a 346-square-mile area in Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties. – Elk from Kentucky will begin arriving in the Show-Me State this coming spring, and preparations to trap and transport the animals are proceeding rapidly, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).
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