Hunters bag 4,500 of elk in annual Southwest Virginia lottery hunt

Six hunters selected from a lottery of submissions recently bagged six elk at an annual management hunt held and backed by the Virginia Division of Wildlife Resources in Buchanan County.

The annual excursion took place last month with more than 4,500 pounds of elk officially checked by game officials.

Reintroduced to the Southwest Virginia mountains in 2012 on former coal mine properties, an agency statement said elk populations can now withstand a harvest without any negative effects.

Purchases of in and out of state licenses to hunt elk have normally resulted in a half-million dollar contribution to the state general fund each year and are used for wildlife preservation efforts.

Results from this and past years’ events can be found by clicking here.

(IMAGE: Property of Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources / Official Facebook / DWR Staff)