DNR reminds Wisconsin deer hunters to avoid shooting elk

[ASFN Admin]

You must be registered for see images

As the 2025-26 white-tailed deer hunting seasons begin in Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources is once again reminding hunters to carefully identify their target and avoid shooting an elk.

The warning is focused on the two areas of highest elk numbers in the state, the Clam Lake and Black River elk ranges, but is important for hunters in other areas, too, as elk occasionally move outside their core habitats, especially during the species' fall breeding season.

Elk are considerably larger than whitetails and the males of each species have differently shaped antlers. However cow and calf elk can be harder to differentiate from female deer.

More: Outdoors calendar

The DNR offers the following tips for elk and deer identification:

• Adult elk are larger than adult deer.An adult elk stands about 1-2 feet taller than an adult deer at the shoulders. An elk calf will be about the same size as an adult white-tailed doe but will display similar coloration to adult elk.
• White-tailed deer antlers curve forward, whereas elk antlers are larger and sweep back from their heads.
• Look for natural differences in markings.Elk have a tan rump patch, black legs and a dark brown mane. Deer have legs the same color as their bodies, a white throat patch and a white tail.
• Look for tags or other features, too. Many elk in Wisconsin have colored ear tags or tracking collars. The collars are fixed around the neck and are typically orange, sometimes with a visible printed number.

Elk were native to Wisconsin but wiped out by the 1880s due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss, according to the DNR.

A reintroduction project began in 1995 when 25 elk were transported from Michigan to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest near Clam Lake.

Additional elk were brought from Kentucky to Wisconsin beginning in 2015 to create a second herd in Jackson County as well as bolster the size and genetic diversity of the northern herd.

Beginning in 2018 the DNR offered a limited elk hunting season in the state.

In the most recent estimate, Wisconsin had 544 elk in 2024, highest on record and up from 510 the previous year, according to post-calving population estimates from the DNR.

Several illegal shootings in recent years have been documented on elk in both herds. The cases of three illegal shootings of adult cow elk in Jackson County – two in November 2022 and one in November 2023 – remain unsolved.

All the animals were wearing blaze orange collars and were shot during the state's nine-day gun deer hunting seasons.

In another case, a Portage man who illegally shot a bull elk in Columbia County was found guilty, fined $10,543 and lost his hunting and trapping privileges for five years. The animal was from the central herd and drifted into Columbia County during the 2021 breeding season.

A mature bull was also found dead March 18, 2025 by DNR staff on private property north of Black River Falls. It had been illegally shot; the case remains open.

The Wisconsin bow deer hunting seasons opened Sept. 13.

The state's elk hunting season is open from Oct. 18 to Nov. 16 and Dec. 11 to 19; a lottery drawing was held to select hunters for the season. Members of Ojibwe Tribes also hold tags for the Clam Lake herd.

For more information, visit dnr.wi.gov, including a DNR’s comparison guide of deer and elk.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: DNR reminds Wisconsin deer hunters to avoid shooting elk

Continue reading...