Applications are open for the 2024 Elk Hunt Lottery, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

A Giles County man harvested an animal not seen there since 1958. Lifelong native Wesley Woodyard hunted Giles County’s first elk in decades, an animal up until now not thought to still be in the county.

Applications opened on Feb. 1 for the 2023 Elk Hunt Lottery, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Elk have been reintroduced in Virginia, and after ten years, biologists are calling it a success story.

BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va. – Elk were reintroduced to southwest Virginia in a three-year release from 2012 to 2014, and the effort seems to be working. The recorded number of elk since the release has grown from 75 to an estimated 300. People are coming from all over to see the elk and to take part in outdoor adventures. “There are people who will come from Pennsylvania, from Georgia, from North Carolina to come here for a chance to see the elk," said Kristi Rose of Southern Gap Outdoor Adventures. “I think this will be the key to Buchanan County’s success is this outdoor tourism.”The herds are protected in the wildlife management zone of Buchanan, Dickenson and Wise counties.

CNNESTES PARK, Colorado (CNN) - Elk in Colorado are entering the "rut," or breeding season, and that means some of the bulls could become aggressive near humans, KMGH reported. A group of people in Estes Park apparently found that out this week, when a bull elk charged at them on a sidewalk, according to videos posted on Facebook on Thursday. The videos show the elk charging at the people, and then charging at a city worker's truck that pulled up on the sidewalk. The rut begins in the fall and ends around late January, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife . Officials advise people to give elk and deer plenty of space during rut, as bucks and bulls could become dangerously aggressive and attack without provocation.