# Elk shot in NC for eating crops



## lampern (Aug 29, 2015)

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/...ers-probe-macon-county-elk-shooting/32282563/

Elk shot in Macon County, NC which borders GA


----------



## Goat (Aug 30, 2015)

Well, that was only a matter of time.


----------



## ambush80 (Aug 30, 2015)

I miss elk meat...


----------



## walkinboss01 (Aug 30, 2015)

I hope he gets to keep the meat. I would hate for it to go to waste.


----------



## CivilWolf (Aug 30, 2015)

Hate this happened.  If it were in my crops, it would just be my bad luck because I wouldn't have shot it.  

On the bright side, the herd seems to be spreading out across the region.  Several have been seen in Macon County and at least one in Clay County, both of which border Georgia.  Won't be long before someone in Towns, White or Rabun Counties post a TC pic of one.


----------



## Throwback (Aug 30, 2015)

they will eat hay too.


----------



## 95g atl (Aug 30, 2015)

would love to have 80 acres and high fence it.  
have several food plots
throw a few Elk in there
and wait


----------



## lampern (Aug 30, 2015)

CivilWolf said:


> Hate this happened.  If it were in my crops, it would just be my bad luck because I wouldn't have shot it.
> 
> On the bright side, the herd seems to be spreading out across the region.  Several have been seen in Macon County and at least one in Clay County, both of which border Georgia.  Won't be long before someone in Towns, White or Rabun Counties post a TC pic of one.



Estimates are as many as 400 animals.


----------



## NCHillbilly (Aug 31, 2015)

Throwback said:


> they will eat hay too.



They destroyed a friend of mine's hayfield two years in a row, and ate most of his rolled hay, too. I came in a hair of smacking one with my truck a few weeks ago when it jumped out in the road in front of me before daylight. Somebody hit one with a car near Maggie Valley a week or so ago.


----------



## RNC (Aug 31, 2015)

There's an elk eating our vegetables honey .

OK ,let me get the tranquilizer gun ,tractor ,knife and new freezer .


----------



## swampstalker24 (Aug 31, 2015)

This is why the Appalachians will never have a huntable elk population.....  the farmers interest will always trump the interest of sportsmen and elk.

We have the same problem in the area of Wyoming I live in.  We don't have a whole lot of elk, but some of the best genetics in the state and 350"+ bulls are the norm.  Problem is, the ranchers pitch fits when the elk roam onto their land and eat hay/tear down fences.  Even though they get reimbursed handsomely for the damage, the still want the elk gone, but most don't allow hunting.  That’s why they turned Elk Area 3 into a general tag last year, with one of the most liberal guns seasons and a cow/calf season that goes from august to January.  The end goal is to eliminate the elk herd hear, though they won't admit that to be the case.  But this is cow country, and the ranchers have a lot of pull and will get their way nine times out of ten.  The Wyoming Game and Fish have even gone so far as to say the elk here are not a native species and are "invasive", despite the fact that there is rock art dating back tens of thousands of years depicting elk and elk hunting.


----------



## Rabun (Sep 3, 2015)

CivilWolf said:


> Hate this happened.  If it were in my crops, it would just be my bad luck because I wouldn't have shot it.
> 
> On the bright side, the herd seems to be spreading out across the region.  Several have been seen in Macon County and at least one in Clay County, both of which border Georgia.  Won't be long before someone in Towns, White or Rabun Counties post a TC pic of one.



OK...so what is the law on shooting an elk on the remote chance one wanders by me as I sit on a ridge in Rabun County this season?  I could find no mention of elk except this snip it under unlawful activities which don't apply since the animal would be free-roaming.  Would they be considered an invasive species?  Be a heck of a drag back to the truck...
"Hunt, shoot, kill, or wound any farmed deer (e.g. elk, red deer, fallow
deer, sika deer, or axis deer) or exotic wild animal (e.g. farmed deer,
mouflon sheep, Barbary sheep [aoudad], antelope, etc.) held under
a wild animal license for enjoyment, gain, amusement, or sport."


----------



## GA DAWG (Sep 3, 2015)

Maybe I will see one eating my crops. I'll have some elk meat to.


----------



## The mtn man (Sep 5, 2015)

I wouldn't go as far as saying a farmer shot this bull, it was more like it was eating out of his backyard garden. A bull was in my parents garden in Clay co. Back in the summer. He lived to see another day, but didn't want anymore of their garden. Probably ran to the next county and got shot in someone else's garden.


----------



## Resica (Sep 8, 2015)

swampstalker24 said:


> This is why the Appalachians will never have a huntable elk population.....  the farmers interest will always trump the interest of sportsmen and elk.
> 
> We have the same problem in the area of Wyoming I live in.  We don't have a whole lot of elk, but some of the best genetics in the state and 350"+ bulls are the norm.  Problem is, the ranchers pitch fits when the elk roam onto their land and eat hay/tear down fences.  Even though they get reimbursed handsomely for the damage, the still want the elk gone, but most don't allow hunting.  That’s why they turned Elk Area 3 into a general tag last year, with one of the most liberal guns seasons and a cow/calf season that goes from august to January.  The end goal is to eliminate the elk herd hear, though they won't admit that to be the case.  But this is cow country, and the ranchers have a lot of pull and will get their way nine times out of ten.  The Wyoming Game and Fish have even gone so far as to say the elk here are not a native species and are "invasive", despite the fact that there is rock art dating back tens of thousands of years depicting elk and elk hunting.



We have a hunting season for Elk in the Appalachians in Pennsylvania.


----------



## NCHillbilly (Sep 8, 2015)

Resica said:


> We have a hunting season for Elk in the Appalachians in Pennsylvania.



And Kentucky and Tennessee.


----------



## The mtn man (Sep 10, 2015)

Yep, it's not normall nesassary to kill one for getting into your garden, there are factory's that make fencing every day. Also the daisy factory I'm sure spits out plenty of bbs too.


----------



## lampern (Sep 16, 2015)

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/09/13/loving-butting-heads-smokies-elk/72207222/

Elk are back in the news


----------



## ryanh487 (Sep 16, 2015)

It's fairly cheap and easy to get some rubber buckshot or rubber baton loads for a 12 gauge.  A few hits to the rump with that and I doubt the sucker would be coming back.  Or there's always OC powder rockets available as well if you look in the right places.


----------



## swampstalker24 (Sep 16, 2015)

Resica said:


> We have a hunting season for Elk in the Appalachians in Pennsylvania.



Yea 27 bull tags issued in 2014 isnt exactly what id call having a huntable population...


----------



## Resica (Sep 16, 2015)

swampstalker24 said:


> Yea 27 bull tags issued in 2014 isnt exactly what id call having a huntable population...



Ok, whatever!


----------



## lampern (Sep 16, 2015)

swampstalker24 said:


> Yea 27 bull tags issued in 2014 isnt exactly what id call having a huntable population...



That is on purpose.

PA has some giant, old bulls.

Wonder why?


----------



## northgeorgiasportsman (Sep 17, 2015)

lampern said:


> That is on purpose.
> 
> PA has some giant, old bulls.
> 
> Wonder why?



Because they've been there since the 1920s and they've been managed since the 1970s.

Kentucky has giant old bulls too.

NC will eventually have giant old bulls as well.


----------



## NCHillbilly (Sep 17, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Because they've been there since the 1920s and they've been managed since the 1970s.
> 
> Kentucky has giant old bulls too.
> 
> NC will eventually have giant old bulls as well.



I've seen some monsters already.


----------



## Buck Roar (Sep 17, 2015)

Thought I heard one bugle Saturday evening in Towns county about a Quarter of a mile from the Clay county line but then again it probably wasn't  one.


----------



## lampern (Sep 17, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Because they've been there since the 1920s and they've been managed since the 1970s.
> 
> Kentucky has giant old bulls too.
> 
> NC will eventually have giant old bulls as well.



Because PA restricts the bull kill.

They could just open season and kill all their old bulls off.

900 elk give or take and just 27 tags for antlered bulls.


----------

