COMMENTARY: Hunter Draws Last-Minute Elk Permit

Applying At Festival A Success

If there was a photo finish in the quest for an Arkansas elk hunting permit, Chuck Gerhardt would be smiling big in the picture.

His try for a tag came down to the wire on June 29 at the Buffalo River Elk Festival in Jasper.

A highlight of the festival is the drawing for about 25 permits the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission gives out for the 2013 Arkansas Elk season. Only Arkansas residents with state hunting licenses may apply. Permits are free.

Hunters attending the elk festival can apply there for a special drawing. Near the end of the drawing process, three elk permits are awarded to hunters who registered at the festival.

Gerhardt and his wife, Karen, headed to the gala pretty much on a lark. They’d wanted to go for years, but the elk festival always conflicted with a big taxidermy competition Karen attends. She’s an award-winning taxidermist and the 2012 National Taxidermist of the Year.

Chuck was excited about applying for one of the three permits. The Gerhardts, who live in the Piney Point community east of Rogers, went mainly to see the festival sights. Chuck filled out the application there on the Jasper square. He and Karen took in the activities and waited for the 5 p.m. drawing. You have to be present to win one of the three permits. About 500 hunters apply at the festival.

The first permit was awarded, then a name was drawn for the second permit. The emcee kept things in suspense.

“Our second permit goes to a hunter from Rogers,” the announcer proclaimed. Gerhardt got excited.

Finally, his name was called. Gerhardt was pumped, all right, “but Karen was more excited than I was,” he said.

Among the ranks of hunters who have drawn Arkansas elk permits over the years, Gerhardt is among the experienced. He’s hunted elk out West dozens of times since 1975. He and Karen own a place in Wyoming where they hunt elk and antelope.

Some aspects of his Arkansas elk hunt Oct. 7-11 will be similar to his western adventures. Prehunt scouting in Arkansas or Wyoming reveals where elk are located. Gerhardt plans to start poking around in the Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area near the lower Buffalo River in mid-September once temperatures cool. He’s got a cow permit for Elk Zone 2, which includes the vast 17,652-acre Gene Rush tract.

Out west or here at home, it’s important to care for the meat quickly. Gerhardt hopes it’s not too hot for his early October Arkansas hunt.

“One thing I won’t have to worry about in Arkansas is grizzly bears,” Gerhardt said. He’s always looking over his shoulder when he’s field dressing an elk where grizzlies roam in Wyoming, where Gerhardt isn’t at the top of the food chain.

Hunters can be thick out west during elk season, but Gerhardt shouldn’t see another elk hunter in Arkansas. Far as he can tell, only he and one other hunter will be roaming the thousands of acres in Elk Zone 2.

Gerhardt’s permit allows him to kill a cow elk and he’s hoping to bag a young one with tender meat. He killed an older cow out west one season and found the meat tough.

Part of Gerhardt’s plan is to talk to Game & Fish wildlife officers for advice about hunting in the Zone 2 area of the lower Buftalo River. He also wants to talk to others who have hunted elk on Gene Rush to see what they say. The Boxley-Ponca area of the Buffalo River where people see and photograph elk from the highway is not in the elk hunting zone.

Northwest Arkansas hunters who won elk permits in the regular drawing are Garrett Day of Springdale, Jerry Anderson of Berryville, William Harris of Fayetteville and Chad Hill of Siloam Springs.

Gerhardt may start his scouting today. He’s traveling in the area and said Wednesday he might stop by the wildlife management area for a look around.

FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS MEDIA.

Upcoming Events