Board hears elk survey, study results

By Anna Jauhola
A half dozen producers attended the Kittson County Board of Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, April 21 to hear an update on the state’s elk study and voice their own concerns.
Jason Wollin, MnDNR area wildlife supervisor for Kittson County, and Blane Klemek, northwest regional wildlife manager, updated the commission on the state’s elk management. This included the aerial survey results, hunting season and research project.
The hunting season was pretty restricted in 2025, with only four total tags issued solely for the Caribou-Vita zone 30. Only two bull elk were harvested. The Red Lake Band of Chippewa issued their own tags, having invoked their 1863 treaty rights. They harvested two antlerless elk and five bull elk. Klemek and Wollin noted the DNR is working on a Memorandum of Understanding with the Red Lake Nation to split annual hunts 50-50.

To read the whole story, see the April 29, 2026, edition of the Kittson County Enterprise