Now that Missouri elk have their feet underneath them, volunteers gathered to help break down the holding pen that once held the state’s first elk in a century. (Originally published in the January-February 2025 issue of Bugle magazine.)

In July in southeast Missouri, RMEF volunteers got to work tearing down an old holding pen on the Peck Ranch Conservation Area as part of the state’s annual volunteer get-together.     

This marked the end of an era for an elk restoration project that began in 2011 when 34 elk hopped off a truck onto Missouri soil for the first time in 150 years. But 13 years later, the holding pen needed to come down to add important habitat to Missouri’s roughly 30,000-acre elk zone. Located about 40 miles northeast of Winona, the Peck Ranch is managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and open for the public to explore its oak and pine ridges, hills and hollows that elk call home. It’s also remained the primary gathering spot for Missouri’s annual RMEF volunteer rendezvous for several years.   Though dismantling the pen is good news for the state’s growing herd of more than 200 elk, some other critters that had taken up residence in the pen weren’t as happy to see it come down—particularly the snakes. “It was kind of fun to see a snake hiding down in the area where we were working. There’s been a few hornets’ nests down in the corral area as well. People usually jump away from ,” says Paul Meyers, longtime attendee of the rendezvous and games chair of the nearby Elk Prairie chapter.

Back in 2011, volunteers helped build this structure with help from a $40,000 RMEF grant. So it was only fitting that more than a dozen volunteers from chapters across the state returned to remove it, which included hauling away 2,300 yards of fencing and pipe. When it was time to take a break from working in the heat and have a bite to eat, Regional Director Eric Brown cooked up a lunch provided by RMEF. 

Looking forward to the next chapter for this area of the Peck Ranch, Meyers says Missouri RMEF and MDC are in talks to create forage where the old holding pen once stood. And just as they have been since day one, RMEF volunteers will be there to get their hands dirty on behalf of Missouri elk.