About Knoxville, Tennessee
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Hunting for funds Limited hunt of elk
would raise money to help bring more herds into the state

If things go as planned, East Tennesseans will soon have a new animal to hunt: elk.

Six years into the state's elk reintroduction program, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission - the governing body in charge of wildlife and fisheries - is considering a limited hunt of the herd in Campbell and Scott counties. The idea is the brainchild of Powell resident Terry Lewis, the same man who in the fall of 2000 proposed to the commission reintroduction of elk.

"The purpose would be to raise money for the elk program," said Lewis, a member of the Campbell Outdoor Recreation Association who is also on the Tennessee Wildlife Federation board of directors. "For $10 you could apply for one of the permits. The money from the application fee would go to bringing more elk into the state."

Lewis' idea is to hunt two or three bulls, which biologists say would have no impact on the future growth of the herd. While two or three hunters would get a chance to be the first since the 1800s to legally bag an elk in Tennessee, the fees from the applications would be nonrefundable and go to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

"If we do this, I would like to see that money earmarked for elk restoration only," Lewis said.

If the hunt comes to pass, it would bring the number of legal big-game species in East Tennessee to five.

For more than 50 years, hunters have taken advantage of a growing deer herd, and for the past 20 years turkey hunting has been the fastest-growing outdoor sport in the state.

East Tennessee is also home to an expanding black bear population, and wild hogs are abundant in the areas around the Cherokee National Forest.

Lewis hopes that someday elk hunting opportunities are as abundant as those for deer, turkey, bear and hogs.

"A huntable population has been the goal since elk were brought back almost six years ago," he said. "If it had not been for other factors beyond our control, I think we would be there now."

A hunt would also focus attention on something Tennessee has besides abundant game: abundant public land for people to hunt.

East Tennessee has more than 750,000 acres of wildlife management areas that provide hunting of not only deer and turkeys and other big game, but rabbits and squirrels and other small-game species as well. Two wildlife management areas, Forks of the River and Fort Loudoun Lake, are inside the Knoxville city limits.

Wildlife management areas within an hour's drive of Knoxville include:

·  Royal Blue: Its 48,000 acres in Campbell County offer excellent deer and turkey hunting as well as a variety of small-game opportunities.

·  Chuck Swan: In Union and Campbell counties near Maynardville, its 24,000 acres provide some of the state's best deer and turkey hunting.

·  Don Sundquist WMA: In Campbell and Anderson counties, 84,000 acres that provides small-game, grouse, deer and turkey hunting.

·  Cherokee: Basically the Cherokee National Forest, it's the state's largest wildlife management area. The Cherokee Forest runs along the Tennessee-North Carolina state line and is divided into north and south portions by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A myriad of separately managed units and reserves exist within those two broad divisions.