UPDATE: Elk killed in Boone County by 14-year-old

UPDATE 3:12 P.M.: A male elk was shot and killed this weekend in Northern Boone County by a 14-year-old.

Abigail Wilson was sitting in her tree stand hunting for deer, when the shot was made.

After the shot was made, she sat in her tree stand and contacted her father, Donald White. Upon arriving, White told his daughter it was not a deer.

They contacted the Department of Conservation, which currently has the elk to run testing for disease.

The hunters told ABC 17 that they don’t want the meat to go to waste- but understand what needs to be done and are working with the Department of Conservation.

Missouri reintroduced wild elk to Missouri back in 2011 after overhunting wiped them out in the early 1900s. But officials said reintroduction of the wild elk happened in southern Missouri, more than 200 miles away from Boone County.

There is no hunting season for elk and it is a violation of state law to kill a free-ranging wild elk.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Missouri Department of Conservation confirmed on Monday that a 14-year-old girl shot and killed an elk in northern Boone County.

The spokesperson for MDC said the department recovered the animal and is taking samples to test for disease.

The spokesperson said there is no hunting season for elk in Missouri and there are no known wild elk in the immediate area. The department is investigating the origins of the animal.