Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire South Carolina- This has happen in 200 years.

USA TODAY - For the first time since the Upstate was Cherokee territory, a wild elk has been seen roaming the woodlands of South Carolina.

Northern Pickens County is abuzz with sightings of the bull elk, whose wanderings are being traced on social media.

It’s not a descendent of species that once inhabited this area, but more likely a young bull elk that was ousted by the dominant males of a herd of Rocky Mountain elk that have been re-established in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to outdoorsman and Pickens County resident Dennis Chastain.

“This is a historic moment that some of us knew would eventually come,” Chastain said. “This is the first wild elk to roam the woods and wild places in South Carolina since they disappeared in the early 1700's.”

Carl Walsh, president of the South Carolina chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, took pictures of the animal, which he estimated is about 2 ½ years old, on private property in the Rocky Bottom area.

“If you had settled in South Carolina back in the late 1600’s you would have had an abundance of elk. But our forefather shot them all out for clothing or food,” he said. “And we haven’t had an elk in 275 years.”

He believes the bull, which is unafraid of humans, will keep looking for a female until he finds one, although he may have to return to North Carolina to accomplish that.

“Hopefully next time he’ll bring a female with him and we can establish a small herd here in South Carolina,” Walsh said.

Walsh and Chastain worked with the Legislature several years ago to get a bill passed to make it illegal to shoot elk in South Carolina, but this is the first time the law has come into play.

“We’ve had reports before,” McCullough, of the DNR said. “This is the first time I’m aware of that we have confirmed one that had wandered down.”

DNR is warning people not to approach the elk.

“People get a false sense of security, because elk don’t mind being approached,” said Justin McVey, a wildlife biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “But they are still wild animals and can be very dangerous. All it would take is for that elk to swing its antlers, and it could really hurt somebody.”

Tammy Wactor, a wildlife biologist with SCDNR, said the young bull elk may weigh up to 700 pounds, and she urges motorists to be careful driving on roads in the area where the animal has been seen, especially at sunrise and sunset.

Numerous social media postings have been made with photos of the elk, some with people feeding the animal, DNR said.

Chastain, who is also a local historian, said, it’s “Unlikely that the woodland buffalo and red wolf, or the Carolina parakeet, the passenger pigeon or the Eastern cougar will ever be restored in Pickens County, but it is pretty cool see the mountain elk come home after 300 years missing in action.”

Copyright 2016 The Greenville (S.C. News

Obviously the DNR spokesman has never worked with elk. A "wild" elk? I think not. Which petting zoo is missing it's elk? You don't hand feed a wild elk. Only a fool hand feeds a tame bull.


The rut's over. They're social and he'll attach himself to any other elk he runs into but he's not looking for love this time of year.

"Elk don't mind being approached"....lol

Watch out, they'll designate the area "critical endangered elk habitat" and dump a laundry list of restrictions on you!

They haven't done that in TN, NC, KY, VA, WV, or PA, so it's damned unlikely to happen in SC.

Depends if the governor thinks people with CBF's will be hunting them....

It is cool to see them reintroduced to regions they were extirpated from 200 years ago. They're a very adaptable critter.

Agreed. Also, and even though I love the Rockies, it will be uber when the populations get high enough to really start hunting them, negating that 3500+ mile round trip - and all of Kansas - to get after them.

I'm in!

He will be hanging in someones garage end of this week

I've heard that they are hell on fences...that they just walk through a standard barbed wire fence like it isn't there. If that is true, hard to see how they will ever truly get reestablished in the east outside of a few select areas. Is it true?

Oldelkhunter is probably right. Some short sighted yahoo will shoot the darn thing, and then brag about it and end up with a ticket and a court date for shooting an illegal animal. Then it will be another 20 years before the next elk wanders into SC from NC.

Around here they just jump over fences. Barbed wire, or buck and rail, makes no difference. Bison will walk through a fence or jump it as the mood hits them.

Happened in KY before they had a season on them. Some ol boy thought he shot the biggest whitetail ever!

Some ol boy thought he shot the biggest whitetail ever

That's scary right there!

If you've ever been to eastern KY, you'd understand and the above would not be close to the scariest part.

Never been to eastern Kentucky. I have been to deepest darkest West Virginia though. Down around Snow Shoe ski resort. Green Briar, Bartow, etc.? Some great people down there but......different......

Eastern KY is what, where, and who WestVirginians make fun of - for good reason.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting. With their feed requirements and the available habitat, those numbers of elk would put a serious burden on private agricultural lands. They're still not there in Kentucky.

It sure is cool to see them back though.

A herd of elk grazing in a forty acre hay meadow would put someone in a bad mood.