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Hunters in Wisconsin registered 15 elk in the 2025-26 hunting season, according to reports from the Department of Natural Resources and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The harvest included 12 elk taken by state-licensed hunters and three by Ojibwe tribal members. The state-licensed hunters harvest included seven bulls and five cows and tribal hunters took three bulls.
The season for state-licensed elk hunters ran in two time periods, Oct. 18 to Nov. 16 and Dec. 11 to 19.
The tribal season ran through Jan. 4, 2026. One of the elk taken by tribal hunters was a spike killed Jan. 3, according to GLIFWC.
The 2025-26 elk hunting season was the eighth in modern Wisconsin history and the first DNR-managed hunt to offer antlerless, or cow, elk tags. The issuance of 17 tags overall was also the highest in modern management history and reflects the growth of the state's elk population, according to the DNR.
The DNR splits elk hunting between the state's central and northern elk herds.
For state-licensed hunters, the DNR made five antlerless and four bull elk tags available in the state's central elk herd as well as four bull tags in the northern herd. In accordance with treaty rights in the ceded territory (approximately the northern one-third of Wisconsin), Ojibwe tribes were also offered four bull tags in the northern herd.
The antlerless tags were offered in the central zone in an effort to slow the growth of the herd.
"All five antlerless elk were harvested in areas where the reduction of a few elk was intended, making it a successful harvest for the hunters as well as meeting harvest objectives,” said Christina Kizewski, DNR central zone elk biologist, in a statement.
Elk were native to the state but extirpated in the 1800s through overhunting. Thanks to restoration efforts over the last 30 years, Wisconsin now boasts a healthy, growing population of wild elk, according to the DNR.
State officials started the reintroduction in 1995 with 25 elk from Michigan that were released in the Clam Lake elk range in northern Wisconsin. It was followed by a 2015 transfer of elk from Kentucky to help establish the Black River elk range in the central part of the state.
Some Kentucky elk were also added to the northern herd.
A hunt was initiated in 2018 in the northern elk herd and in 2024 in the central.
Hunting is a "testament to the years of hard work to restore elk to their native range in Wisconsin, continued careful management and the strength of partnerships across agencies and states, tribal governments and non-profit organizations," according to the DNR.
Partners include the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and various tribes.
Wisconsin had 544 elk in 2024, highest on record and up from 510 the previous year, according to post-calving population estimates by the DNR.
The 2024 post-calving elk population included 356 in the northern herd and 188 in the central herd. The composition of the 2024 northern herd was 184 cows, 80 bulls and 92 calves, according to DNR estimates, while the central herd had 73 cows, 68 bulls and 47 calves.
Elk tags are awarded to state-licensed hunters through a lottery.
The 13 Wisconsin state-licensed hunters who participated in this year’s hunt were randomly selected from a pool of more than 26,000 applicants, according to the DNR. The agency received 17,737 applications to hunt in the northern elk range and 8,452 applications for the central.
Only one state-licensed elk tag – a bull tag in the central herd – and one tribal tag in the northern herd went unfilled.
The DNR's Elk Advisory Committee met Dec. 10, 2025 to review the 2025 season and offer recommendations for 2026. For the coming season, the committee recommended eight bull tags for the northern herd and six bull tags and six cow tags for the central herd.
The recommendations require approval by DNR management.
Funds from elk applications and licenses support the DNR's elk management program. For each $10 application fee, $7 goes directly toward elk management, habitat restoration and research, according to the DNR.
The 2026 elk hunt application period for Wisconsin residents is expected to open with the new license year on March 1 and run through May 31, 2026. The 2026 elk hunting season will open on Saturday, Oct. 17.
For more information on elk in Wisconsin, visit the DNR's Elk webpage.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hunt allowed five cow elk to be taken in central herd
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