State elk benefit from banquet

Elk enthusiasts opened their wallets Saturday at the Arkansas Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s annual banquet and auction at the Benton Event Center.

Notice I didn’t write elk “hunting” enthusiasts. The omission is intentional because a fair number of the attendees at the banquet are not elk hunters. John Balenko of Pangburn is an example. I shared a table with Balenko and made a new friend. He said he doesn’t hunt elk. He joined the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation because he enjoys contributing to elk conservation in Arkansas.

From my observations, that described many of the people that attended the banquet. Some have done do-it-yourself hunts with over-the-counter elk permits in Colorado. Few apply for low-percentage draw permits in other states and invest the considerable amounts of money for outfitter services that are necessary for highly desirable, once-in-a-lifetime draw hunts.

One Arkansan won an Arkansas elk hunting permit with a bid of $14,000. That was a highly competitive auction. In 2018, that permit sold for about $20,000. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation said most of that money is used to improve elk habitat in Arkansas and for educational purposes.

I always enjoy annual banquets for groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club and, of course, the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, for which Ducks Unlimited is a major presence. I enjoy meeting fellow wildlife and hunting enthusiasts, and I enjoy the auctions. I especially enjoy the firearms auctions because hunting firearms are my specialty.

There were five noteworthy rifles at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet. One was a Kimber Mountain Ascent rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor featuring a camouflage stock and stainless steel metalwork. The street price is about $1,200. One of my table mates won that rifle with a $20 ticket.

Another was a Montana Rifle Company XTreme Ascent bolt-action in 6.5 Creedmoor which auctioned close to its street price of about $1,600.

The other two were a Weatherby Mark V in 300 Weatherby and a Browning X-Bolt in 28 Nosler.

The 28 Nosler was an interesting choice. Along with the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner and 280 Ackley, it is the hottest .284-cal. cartridge, but the Nosler has a slight advantage because longer bullets can be seated farther out of the case to increase powder capacity.

All are rare in commercial rifles. I prefer milder stuff, from 7mm-08, 7x57 Mauser and 280 Rem. When I need magnum power, I am perfectly satisfied with 7mm Rem. Magnum. My 7-Mag., a Winchester Model 70 Stainless, is wicked accurate and pleasant to shoot.

If I wanted more “scream,” the 28 Nosler would be my choice.

In addition to the elk tag, a number of other hunting and

fishing opportunities were auctioned. A five-day fishing trip in Ontario, Canada, went for $500. That’s a serious bargain.

KEEPING KIRBY FAMOUS

Lately we’ve featured a couple of fishing trips with Ricky Ellis of Cabot, the man who put Kirby, Ark., on the map.

It all started about a year ago when Ellis started posting satirical photos on Facebook with hunters and anglers posing with ridiculously large deer and fish reportedly taken in the Garland County community where Ellis hunts deer.

Most of the photos have obviously been altered, but some folks don’t get the joke. For example, a television personality from out of state contacted Ellis about doing a story about this phenomenal unknown sportsman’s paradise.

“It started out as a joke, but it’s kind of taken on a life of its own,” Ellis said. “The point is to make people lighten up a little bit.”

My favorite was a photo of an angler holding up a giant roosterfish. The tagline identifies an undocumented immigrant that came from Central America to see what Kirby is all about.

Another shows a forklift lifting a giant morel mushroom from Kirby.

Miss Laura’s favorite is a photo from Kirby’s annual cheetah races. It shows a guy in motorcycle racing gear riding a cheetah running at full throttle.

These are the people we meet on the Arkansas Outdoors beat. It’s one of the many reasons it’s the best beat in the newspaper business.