Below is a news release from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The participants in the 2022 Tennessee elk hunt and the grand prize winners of the Tennessee Conservation Raffle were announced during the August meeting of the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission held at the Edgewater Conference Center.
Winners of the 14 drawn permits to hunt elk on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area or private lands within the Elk Restoration Zone were announced by TWRA Elk Program Coordinator Brad Miller. A total of 11,143 people registered for the opportunity to participate in this year’s elk quota hunts, in line with 2021 and up 1,540 from 2020. A total of 368 applied for the youth hunt.
Tennessee began its elk hunt in 2009 with the participants randomly selected from a computer draw. Selected for the archery only hunt to be held Sept. 24-30 were Cody Allen Deese (Clarksville), Preston Chance Rouse (Knoxville), Brian Austin Cowan (Portland), Gary Wayne Ward (Jacksboro), James David Kelly (Spring Hill), and Richard Homan Britt (Signal Mountain).
One youth permit is awarded for a participant between the ages of 13-16 for the Oct. 1-7 hunt. This year’s youth tag permit winner is Garrett A. Ballard (Atoka).
Six permits were announced for the Oct. 8-14 hunt where participants will have the option to use archery, gun, or muzzleloader. The winners of those permits were James Paul Chambers (Chattanooga), Gregory E. Cooper (Savannah), Maya Yixue Stewart (Atoka), Randy Lee Dodd (Humboldt), Michael Kay Hurd (Mount Carmel), and David Seal (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Joey Woodard, Executive Director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation, reported on this year’s raffle and announced the 10 grand prize winners. The first person drawn with first choice in prize selection was John Brink (Decatur, Ala.). He was followed by Greg Stephenson (Cookeville), Jeffery Sole (Frankfort, Ky.), Timothy Hix (Shelbyville), David Swartz (Liberty), Leon Majcen (Nashville), David Campbell (Old Hickory), Travis McNabb (Burns), Stephen Moody (Franklin), and John Baker (Kingsport). An additional 100 people will receive a hunting knife.
In the order drawn, the winners have their choice of prizes. This year’s raffle is also highlighted by a $50,000 voucher which can be applied to a new vehicle from any Mid-South Ford dealership. Other packages include an elk tag for the Tennessee Premier Elk Zone, a deer hunt on Presidents Island; a Tracker boat, a UTV, turkey hunting package; waterfowl hunting package, a $5,000 Academy + Sports Outdoors gift card, a Best of the West precision long-range shooting package, and Tennessee Heritage hunting package. An additional 100 winners will receive a knife.
The raffle totals were similar to last year with 26,000 orders received resulting in 170,000 tickets sold for more than $1.8 million. Proceeds from the raffle support habitat restoration efforts.
(Photo credit: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency)