Between 1917 and 1960, small herds of elk from Yellowstone National Park were relocated to Virginia. The last stocked elk vanished in 1970. Elk are a member of the deer family. Virginia game regulations do not have a special classification for them. This means elk are legal game targets under deer regulations, which in turns means there will be elk hunting in Virginia this season, thanks to the wandering animals from Kentucky.
Elk generally avoid roads, lessening their chance of being involved in accidents with vehicles.
In addition to Kentucky, stocking east of the Mississippi have taken place in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arkansas. Feasibility studies have taken place in New York, Missouri, Tennessee and North Carolina in addition to Virginia. At first thought, you'd figure that the origin of the names of the Bullpasture, Cowpasture and Calfpasture rivers in Bath and Highland County Virginia had to do with the domestic cattle that have grazed the forage-rich stream valleys since they were settled. In reality, they are in reference to the elk that ranged there prior to the extension of the Eastern subspecies in the first half of the 1800s. Now it appears that the region is the most likely spot for elk reintroductions to occur in Virginia, for three important reasons.