The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is celebrating a successful elk hunting season. The states fifth elk hunting season opened Saturday, October 15 and closed Wednesday, October 19 as a result of all four state licensed hunters filling their harvest authorizations.

Three hunters were fortunate to harvest a bull elk in the first two days of the season and the 4th tag was filled by day 5. Notably, this year’s hunt marked the first modern harvest of an elk using a bow, another milestone for Wisconsin conservationists. It takes tremendous effort and practice to complete a harvest with a bow.

As with previous elk hunting seasons, Ojibwe tribal hunters also have the opportunity to harvest elk in the Ceded Territory of Wisconsin this season. The tribal season closes Sunday, January 8, 2023.

Wisconsin’s annual elk hunt takes place in the Clam Lake Elk Range, home of Wisconsin’s longest tenured elk population since reintroduction efforts started in 1995. In 2022, the estimated population of the Clam Lake elk herd is 336 animals. Bulls have been harvested throughout this range each year since the hunt started in 2016.

Elk were also reintroduced in Jackson County in 2015 to form the Black River Falls herd. The Black River herd reached 130 individuals in 2022, bringing the statewide total to approximately 466 elk.

The DNR drew 3 hunters at random from a pool of approximately 25,400 Wisconsin resident applicants. The 4th hunter was selected by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation through a raffle drawing with over 1600 entries. This year was the foundations 5th and final year of holding a separate drawing.

The 2023 elk hunt application period is expected to open March 1, 2023 and run through May 31, 2023. For more information visit the DNR’s Elk webpage.