CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Tenn. — The reward to identify and arrest a poacher after finding a dead bull elk that had been shot in the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area of Claiborne County has increased to $5,500.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said a hunter reported finding a dead 5x5 bull elk that had been shot in the Valley Creek area of the Ed Carter Unit of the NCWMA on December 31.
The elk was found north of a graveyard off Valley Creek Road, which runs through the eastern portion of the WMA.
The TWRA said wildlife officers found the dead elk lying in an old coal mine road. The carcass was taken to the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, where a bullet was recovered and a necropsy confirmed it had been shot.
In addition to the original $4,000 reward offered by the Pine Mountain Longbeards Chapter of the NWTF, The Tennessee Wildlife Federation is offering $1,000 and K-N-K Metal Sales Inc. in Harrogate is donating $500 bringing the current total reward amount to $5,500.
Anyone with information can call the TWRA poaching line at 1-800-831-1174, TWRA officer Brenden Marlow at (615) 571-4792 or Michael Cavins at (865) 318-3349.
Elk are a protected species that were reintroduced in East Tennessee in 2000. The TWRA holds a lottery every year for hunters to participate in a managed hunt in the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area.
Elk were also brought back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most of them live on the North Carolina side of the park near Ocunaluftee, though they occasionally wander over to East Tennessee.