There may soon be a new place to hunt elk in Wisconsin. Currently, the annual hunt happens near Clam Lake in the northern portion of the state, one of two locations to find wild, free-ranging elk. The other is about 150 miles to the south in the Black River State Forest of west-central Wisconsin.
“We’re in a good place right now with elk in the central herd,” Christina Kizewski, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s been considered for a couple years now and this time the committee felt it was right to move toward a hunt in the area.”
A 2023 report shows there are more than 500 combined elk in the state’s two elk zones, its largest population on modern record.
Hunting generates significant revenue for the DNR to put back on the ground to benefit habitat and wildlife management. Interested hunters pay $10 for an application with seven dollars going toward the state’s management plan. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation also hosted a raffle from 2018-2022 with proceeds going to the same cause.
An announcement about whether a Jackson County hunt will take place is expected later.
RMEF assisted with the initial restoration of elk near Clam Lake in northern Wisconsin beginning in 1995 and later supplied funding and volunteer support to return elk in Jackson County in 2015-16.
(Photo credit: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources/Jim Kuchler)