The six people who will participate in the 2014 Tennessee Elk Hunts were announced during the committee meetings of the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission being held at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson. The TFWC met Thursday-Friday.
Four of the sportsmen were winners selected in a computer drawing conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The four Tennessee residents selected were Clay Oldham (Hartsville), Audie Lee Schrimsher (Maryville), Larry R. Dunn (Baxter), and Jimmy Dean Rogers (Jefferson City). TWRA Wildlife and Forestry Division Chief Darryl Ratajcak made the announcement of this year’s participants.
Those selected will participate in Tennessee’s sixth-ever managed elk hunt to be held Oct. 20-24 at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area. A total of 9,551 persons applied for this year’s hunt. The total is down from the 9,930 applications last year, but an increase from 2012’s of 6,111 applicants. The application period has concluded in July each of the past two years.
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. Shane Alexander, a former Tennessee resident who now resides in Montana, had the high bid of $9,788. Last year’s successful bid was $8,700. Fund-raising proceeds raised from the bid are designated for the TWRA Elk Program.
Following the elk hunt, the third Tennessee Young Sportsman Hunt will be held the weekend of Oct. 25-26. Robert L. Goodner , a 14-year old from Cleveland is the first boy that has been selected for the youth hunt. Both previous participants were girls who each had a harvest.
Last year, four of the five participants in the regular drawing had harvests. There have been a total of 22 elk harvests since the annual hunt began in 2009.