More than 200 years after elk disappeared from North Carolina's mountains, state leaders are proposing the first elk hunt in modern North Carolina history.
The state Wildlife Resources Commission estimates there are around 250 elk roaming in a few southern Appalachian counties, enough to sustain a small hunt.
"They have signed off deeming that we have a healthy enough herd to do so," said Rep. Cody Huneycutt, a Republican from Stanly County who introduced a bill legalizing the hunt.
If the bill passes, two elk hunting permits would be granted in fall 2026. One would be auctioned to the highest bidder, and the other would be raffled to a North Carolina resident.
The bill cleared its first committee on Tuesday and must pass another before the House can take a vote.
Elk disappeared from NC in the 1700s
Elk, also called wapiti, used to graze throughout most of the country, but the Eastern Elk was driven to extinction through hunting and habitat loss soon after the arrival of European settlers.
The last Eastern Elk vanished from North Carolina in the 1700s.
The National Park Service reintroduced a different subspecies from Canada to the Great Smoky Mountains over 20 years ago, and the experiment was deemed a success in 2008.
The Wildlife Resources Commission began crafting the framework for a hunting season in 2016. Neighboring states also tightly control elk hunting, with 19 permits raffled in Tennessee this year and five in Virginia.
Kirk Port, with the North Carolina chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said elk are an "iconic big game species." Port urged lawmakers to raffle both licenses, instead of auctioning one off.
Most of the auction proceeds would be kept by the state "for the conservation and management of elk," the bill states. The nonprofit Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation would keep 25%.
Raffle tickets, meanwhile, would cost $20 each. The state would keep all of that money.
Elk are the largest land mammals in the state. Males weigh around 700 pounds and can sport antlers up to five feet wide.
Only males could be hunted, the pending legislation states.
"The hunting in the fall won't have anything to do with calving in the spring," said Brad Howard, chief of the Wildlife Management Division for the state.
Poaching an elk comes with a $2,500 minimum fine.
