Kentucky Elk Hunt 2004
It didn't take long for hunters to score big during
this year's limited entry area hunt for bull elk in Eastern Kentucky. By the
end of opening day, Oct. 2, 11 of 13 hunters in the field had taken a bull
elk. A majority of the elk taken scored in the 260 class or better (using
Boone and Crockett Club standards), while a handful unofficially measured
around 300 or more.
The 2004 hunt featured two firsts: A woman likely will
hold the state record for elk while the youngest hunter ever to participate
in Kentucky's quota elk hunts - 11-year-old Stephanie
Gavin of Butler, Ky. - took a bull whose unofficial score is just a few
points shy of last year's state record. Antlers must dry at least 60 days
before they can be officially scored.
The results of this year's hunt were impressive to Don
Wackerman, a Wyoming-based guide who has hunted elk in the Western United
States for decades. "I think in a few years, Kentucky will have a world
record elk," said Wackerman, who served as a guide for Gavin.
Rita Tharp, a grandmother
who raises tobacco on her 120-acre farm in Trimble County, is posed to be
Kentucky's new record holder for elk in Kentucky. Jon Gassett, wildlife
division director for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
Resources, unofficially scored Tharp's bull at 324 in the Boone and Crockett
Club scoring system.
The current state record, a 6x6 bull taken by Floyd
County resident Terry Ratliff last year, scored 304 2/8.
Tharp took her bull with a single 163-yard shot from a
gun she had borrowed from a friend. She was hunting at Starfire Wildlife
Management Area (WMA) in Breathitt County at the time. "When you think
about elk, you think about going to Colorado or some place out west,"
she said. "The fact that it happened here in Kentucky is exciting
beyond words."
Gavin's hunt on Begley Wildlife Management Area in
Bell County proved just as successful. Wackerman, who had never been on
Begley WMA until he arrived the night before the hunt, used a series of cow
calls to lure an impressive bull within 20 yards of his hunter. Gavin
dropped the bull with her first shot from her father’s .30-06.
Not all shots were as close. Louisville resident William
Earnhart III placed two shots within inches at 400 yards with his .30-06
rifle to down a large 6x6 bull on opening day.
The limited entry area hunts for bull elk were held at
Begley and Starfire WMAs. Another limited entry area hunt for cow elk will
occur in December. A number of elk tags are designated as at-large, meaning
hunters can take elk anywhere within the 16-county elk zone in Eastern
Kentucky, with the exception of limited entry areas. The at-large season
started Oct. 2 and will run through Jan. 17, 2005.
This year, Kentucky issued 41 elk hunting permits. All
previous hunts were limited to 12 participants.
Modern day elk hunting started in 2001, five years
after the start of an ambitious program to restore elk to the southeastern
portion of the state. With an estimated 4,500 animals, Kentucky has the
largest elk herd east of the Mississippi River.
