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October 25, 2002
Roanoke County News
Elk killed in Roane; hunter in hot water
It looked like a really big deer.
The first known case of an illegal killing of reintroduced wild elk in Tennessee has happened in Roane County.
Billy F. Campbell, 68, shot the bull Saturday during a managed deer hunt at the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has charged the Jonesborough, Tenn., man with illegally shooting one of the 136 reintroduced wild elk released at the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area since December 2000.
Ben Layton, a big game biologist for the state, said Campbell was a permitted hunter at the hunt and sent a friend to the checking station to report he had shot the elk while deer hunting.
Campbell said he saw a large rack and brown fur moving in some thick brush and shot the quarter-ton animal, Layton reported.
Tennessee has no hunting season for elk and it is not legal to kill any wild elk in the state. Doing so is a Class A misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days in jail, a fine of $2,500, and restitution of no less than $1,000 to the state for the loss of the animal.
Campbell is scheduled to appear in Roane County General Sessions Court on Nov. 18.
A public information campaign about the elk reintroduction program was started before the first elk release. The program was intended to educate deer hunters that wild elk are in Tennessee and explain how they differ in appearance from whitetail deer. Public displays were set up at area events, and other information was presented in store window posters and press releases.
The elk was checked for radiation by testing tissue and bone samples by Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The carcass was taken to the University of Tennessee Veterinary School for a series of tests that will give biologists an array of information about this elk and the health of the herd not possible to obtain from a living elk, Layton said.
Roanoke County News
Elk killed in Roane; hunter in hot water
It looked like a really big deer.
The first known case of an illegal killing of reintroduced wild elk in Tennessee has happened in Roane County.
Billy F. Campbell, 68, shot the bull Saturday during a managed deer hunt at the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has charged the Jonesborough, Tenn., man with illegally shooting one of the 136 reintroduced wild elk released at the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area since December 2000.
Ben Layton, a big game biologist for the state, said Campbell was a permitted hunter at the hunt and sent a friend to the checking station to report he had shot the elk while deer hunting.
Campbell said he saw a large rack and brown fur moving in some thick brush and shot the quarter-ton animal, Layton reported.
Tennessee has no hunting season for elk and it is not legal to kill any wild elk in the state. Doing so is a Class A misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days in jail, a fine of $2,500, and restitution of no less than $1,000 to the state for the loss of the animal.
Campbell is scheduled to appear in Roane County General Sessions Court on Nov. 18.
A public information campaign about the elk reintroduction program was started before the first elk release. The program was intended to educate deer hunters that wild elk are in Tennessee and explain how they differ in appearance from whitetail deer. Public displays were set up at area events, and other information was presented in store window posters and press releases.
The elk was checked for radiation by testing tissue and bone samples by Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The carcass was taken to the University of Tennessee Veterinary School for a series of tests that will give biologists an array of information about this elk and the health of the herd not possible to obtain from a living elk, Layton said.
