Go get him, Red Deer

[livinoutdoors]

We've got one here. You have to be extra careful driving now.

I drive kinda slow for a younger fella?

 

[ucfireman]

Right now we have exotics in three areas of the state roaming that need to be shot. This one that the article is about, some red deer in Heard County and a cow elk in the Dawsonville area. We had a bunch escape last year as well after storms knocked holes in fences in multiple areas of the state.

Does the state have plans for when/if elk wonder in from NC or Tn (Tn is a stretch but NC is probably going to happen in a few years pretty regularly)? Are they still going to be consider exotic and incidental even though they came in naturally?

Kind of like that cougar a few years ago in the Lagrange area. Ga is not supposed to have them and then there one is. You assume its an escaped exotic and shoot it and then they run a test and find out it is a transient Fl panther and you get in all kinds of trouble.

We've got one here. You have to be extra careful driving now.

I have read where they claim they are less "dangerous" than a deer as they tend to walk out into the road instead of running seeming from no where.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Does the state have plans for when/if elk wonder in from NC or Tn (Tn is a stretch but NC is probably going to happen in a few years pretty regularly)? Are they still going to be consider exotic and incidental even though they came in naturally?

Kind of like that cougar a few years ago in the Lagrange area. Ga is not supposed to have them and then there one is. You assume its an escaped exotic and shoot it and then they run a test and find out it is a transient Fl panther and you get in all kinds of trouble.



I have read where they claim they are less "dangerous" than a deer as they tend to walk out into the road instead of running seeming from no where.

I had to lock it down and slide sideways a couple years ago when one jumped off a road bank in front of me in the middle of a blind curve.

 

[C.Killmaster]

Does the state have plans for when/if elk wonder in from NC or Tn (Tn is a stretch but NC is probably going to happen in a few years pretty regularly)? Are they still going to be consider exotic and incidental even though they came in naturally?

Kind of like that cougar a few years ago in the Lagrange area. Ga is not supposed to have them and then there one is. You assume its an escaped exotic and shoot it and then they run a test and find out it is a transient Fl panther and you get in all kinds of trouble.



I have read where they claim they are less "dangerous" than a deer as they tend to walk out into the road instead of running seeming from no where.

They are not protected in Georgia. Regarding the Florida panther, they are protected by Federal law under the endangered species act and elk have no such protection.

 

[jiminbogart]

Where elk indigenous in Georgia back in the day?

 

[Nicodemus]

Where elk indigenous in Georgia back in the day?

You`ll hear folks say that they were, but according to the archaeological record, no, they weren`t ever in Georgia in historical times.

 

[seabolt]

Are wild elk that wander in from North Carolina legal to shoot in GA?

No

 

[lampern]

Where elk indigenous in Georgia back in the day?

Probably in the mountain counties but not elsewhere

 

[ssramage]

I need one of the fallow deer on St. Simons to wander into my yard...

 

[ucfireman]

They are not protected in Georgia. Regarding the Florida panther, they are protected by Federal law under the endangered species act and elk have no such protection.

With regard to the panther, how are you supposed to know if it is a wondering Fl panther, someone's escaped pet or one that wondered in from Tn (I think that is the closest population I have heard of).

 

[westcobbdog]

Any info on exactly where the trail cam pictures are from, I've heard Mitchell and Edgehill. As the crow flies our lease is about 10 miles from Edgehill.

The one I saw was from Greene County

 

[C.Killmaster]

With regard to the panther, how are you supposed to know if it is a wondering Fl panther, someone's escaped pet or one that wondered in from Tn (I think that is the closest population I have heard of).

You can't really know that. I think it comes down to not shooting an animal unless you know for a fact that it's legal. It was also a violation of state law since cougars are a game animal in Georgia with a closed season, but they didn't charge him with any state violations.

In the case of this red deer, we specifically issued a letter of authorization for any hunter to kill it and distributed it to all the hunters in the area or had reported sightings. We also made it known through media interviews that it was legal to shoot.

 

[lampern]

So just to clarify any wild elk or red deer in Georgia is fair game with a hunting license in hand?

 

[Deernut3]

I'll be back in Washington county to hunt that beast very soon.

 

[C.Killmaster]

So just to clarify any wild elk or red deer in Georgia is fair game with a hunting license in hand?

Most likely, but the law is really muddy particularly if the owner of the animal is trying to get it back alive. Given the history of many escaped exotics shot by hunters and none to my knowledge charged with anything, I would say it's pretty safe. It's the last sentence in the law that I don't know how to interpret if notice isn't given. We issued a letter of authorization in the case of this red deer to make it clear in this instance.

§ 4-4-174. Escaped deer or cervid

Any farmed deer or cervid which escapes from a licensed deer farm shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Natural Resources and may be treated as an escaped wild animal which is subject to the provisions of Chapter 5 of Title 27, except that, while such animal is roaming freely outside the enclosure of any licensed deer farm, the owner of such farmed deer or cervid shall have 48 hours from the time the escape is detected to recapture such animal and return it to the licensed deer farm. As a condition for maintaining a deer-farming license, it shall be the duty of the owner or operator of a licensed deer farm to notify the Department of Natural Resources immediately upon discovery of the escape of a farmed deer. When such notice has been given, no legal hunter shall be held liable for killing or wounding an escaped deer.

 

[lampern]

I would expect any red deer (not native to North America) to be an escaped or released farmed deer.

I wish Georgia would clarify the law on wild elk ( wandering from NC and TN) like SC did.

Make it clear people can or cannot shoot them.

 

[splatek]

I would expect any red deer (not native to North America) to be an escaped or released farmed deer.

I wish Georgia would clarify the law on wild elk ( wandering from NC and TN) like SC did.

Make it clear people can or cannot shoot them.

Have there been a lot of instances of elk wandering. I think I remember one, a year or two back and I guess when there's one, there are others not reported by the newspaper. I reckon with the Smokeys pretty much butting right up against the NC/GA line it's bound to happen, but am curious about how often this really happens.

 

[lampern]

I know one wandered into Ga and SC and made the news once

I guess if the Smokies lets the elk herd keep growing it’s bound to happen again

 

[CaptKeith]

Someone chase that red stag down my way!

 

[ChidJ]

Dang, maybe he'll take refuge up on Fort Gordon. Keeping my eyes peeled for him in McDuffie and Columbia counties

Can we bag him at night, legally?