2021 Elk Festival canceled, additional elk tags drawn

Aug. 18, 2021

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

JASPER — The final three public land permits for the 2021 elk hunting season have been drawn, and winners of these coveted hunting opportunities have been notified, following Monday’s cancellation of the 2021 Buffalo River Elk Festival.

While the news of the event being canceled is disappointing for many in the area, event organizers felt it was in the best interest of public safety to avoid any sort of event that could cause COVID-19 cases to rise.

Wes Wright, AGFC elk program coordinator, says AGFC staff planned for the possibility of a cancellation, and is happy to announce that the three tags that were reserved for the event have been allocated to people from the original application period.

“We drew three additional names during the original elk drawing in the event that this year’s festival was postponed or canceled,” Wright said. “Once we found out the festival was not going to happen as scheduled, we contacted those alternate hunters and notified them of the opportunity. We wish all of the public-land elk hunters good luck this year and encourage them all to take some time to scout their elk zones in advance of their hunt to get a good feel for the area they drew.”

The three additional 2021 elk permit winners are:

Oct. 4-8

Zone 1 either sex — Steve Maulden, Bee Branch

Oct. 25-29

Zone 2 antlerless — Bobby Adkison, Ozark
Zone 3 antlerless — Matthew Preston, Bella Vista

Visit www.agfc.com/elk to learn more about Arkansas’s elk herd.