Participants Announced for 2013 Elk Hunts During TFWC Meeting

KNOXVILLE --- The six persons who will participate in the 2013 Tennessee Elk Hunts were announced Thursday (Aug. 22) during the committee meetings of the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission. 

Four of the sportsmen were winners selected in a computer drawing conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The four Tennessee residents selected were Timothy R. Collins (Cookeville), James A. McDonald III (Knoxville), Ronnie E. Gibson (Soddy Daisy), and Michael W. Graves (Lebanon).

Those selected will participate in Tennessee’s fifth-ever managed elk hunt to be held Oct. 21-25 at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area. A total of 10,343 persons applied for this year’s hunt, an increase from last year’s 6,111 applicants. The application period concluded in July this year rather than in May the previous four years of the hunt.

The fifth permit was donated to a Non-Governmental Organization which was the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation. The permit was auctioned on eBay in July. Tommy Daile of Knoxville had the high bid of $8,700. This year’s bid is $1,900 higher than last year’s successful bid of $6,800. Fund-raising proceeds raised from the bid are designated for the TWRA Elk Program.

Following the elk hunt, the Second Tennessee Young Sportsman Hunt will be held the weekend of Oct. 26-27. For the second time in as many years, a girl has won the youth permit. Laurel A. Allen, a resident of Jacksboro, which is located near North Cumberland WMA, is this year’s youth participant.

This year’s hunters will be out to match the success of last year’s participants. All six persons recorded harvests in 2012.

---TWRA---