Now that California has managed to replenish wild elk herds nearly eliminated during the mid-1800s, the state Department of Fish and Game this week for the first time awarded permits to hunt elk in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. There are only two permits—one for a bull in each county—but the slots drew relatively few applicants. That is largely because elk in those hunting zones are on private property, where hunters need landowners' permission to hunt, officials say. The Alameda and Santa Clara permits drew 28 and 79 applicants respectively this season, compared with older hunting zones on...