If an elk escapes a high fence and wanders onto your place is it legal to shoot him? And secondly is it ethical to shoot someone else's animal ?

Talk to your county sheriff, brand inspector, and game warden.

The laws concerning exotic wildlife as true livestock have changed recently. I am not sure how they work anymore.

I talked to a couple of GW's recently about this exact topic. Both told me that if they walked into camp and one is hanging, they wouldn't care or question it. There has to be a way to identify the animal as the owners to do anything about it and about the only repercussions would be from the owner and that would be civil.

If you know where they come from, I think you should notify the owner and give him a chance to recover the animal. If he declines then I see no issue with shooting the animal. If you have no idea who owns the animal, figure it is up to you if you want to take that animal or not. I see Elk as being no different than axis, fallow, blackbuck, or any other exotic and folks take them all the time on LF properties. You can be pretty sure that someone "owned" them at one time or another.

Yes they are treated just like livestock and if their are identifying marks then the owner can file charges.

Like stated above the GW probably doesn't care but you never know.

in my area around Possum Kingdom Lake Axis Red Stag and the occasional Elk in other parts of the county are somewhat common i know what i would do and can only hope i have the opportunity someday

If I thought I new where it came from I would try to talk to the possible owner first & take it from there. If I had no idea where it came from then I would fill the freezer in a heart beat.

I think this is a logiCal way to handle it. If there is a high fence nearby then i would hold off but if it is in an area with free roaming exotics and no high fences then i would let him have it!

From what I have seen around here is. Sometimes ranches buy exotics. A lot of the times their fences are not good enough for what they buy. When exotics are first bought they try for the first few weeks to leave. If their are holes in the fence, places where the fence is too low or water gaps are not sealed off. They will leave. I have over the years inherated axis with ear tags,aoudad that have come and gone, fallow and a sika. Also I have lost Ibex. I have retrieved the ones I have raised but have never seen again the ones that were bought and released. If the elk was wild I would doubt that it could be retrieved alive. Like was said before, if you knew were it came from I would give them one chance then eat it if I saw it again.

If it is not captured I don't see how telling a possible owner would do any good as it will be roaming. How would he "retrieve" it when it is gone in a few hours from when you saw it? If I don't see an ear tag I will pbly shoot it.

One of my customers near Corronado's Camp had about 40 of them. Her husband passed away about 3 yrs ago, and since then the fence has been in disrepair and all of the elk strayed off her property. I'm not sure how long an elk will live around here without human help, but if they do well, then they have probably reproduced. I think the neighbor/GW thing is really the only ethical option. After that, all I can say is happy hunting. Does it have a nice rack? That would be an awesome bonus!

One better not walk infront of me

If I let one walk it would probably be long gone before I could ever hope to track down an owner. I guess if you routinely hunt with a dart gun, you could sedate it and tie it up until you figure it out. Other than that... ...

most counties in texas do not have an elk season. also a lot of deer and exotics from high fenced ranches have a microchip or ear tatoo. i know of people that got in trouble with tatooed deer heads at the taxidermist.

What kind of trouble would you get into?

in the old days when all the deer belonged to the state and were not privately owned it was a lot simpler.

How can you get in trouble shooting a deer that is 100+ yards off & find out someone tattoed his ear?

We have Red Stag that have started showing up on our place in the last few weeks.. The high fence ranch about a mile away left a note on our gate saying someone had left their gate open and 10 Red Stag got out.. The note stated " if you see our red stag please let us know they are very tame and we would like to have them back". My dad stopped by to let them know we had seen a few of them. The owner stated the only way for him to get them back was with a helicopter.. He wanted to fly around our ranch and use a net gun if he saw them. Dad told him he could after deer season, now this guy is throwing a fit wanting to get them back now.. The high fence ranch owner told dad that he would get them back when we were not there.. Dad kindly told him we have several cameras around the ranch and if he was caught on any of them then he would file trespassing charges on him.. Long story short dad told the ranch owner the other day if we see them again we will call you when they are hanging in camp!!

What countys in Texas do have an elk season

None...

Elk are considered exotics in Tx, just like any other exotic there is no closed season or bag limits.
Landowner permission, hunting license & hunters Ed (if age dictates) is all that is neccesary to kill them 24/7/365.

Exactly

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