DNR: Fort Atkinson resident wins opportunity to hunt elk

A Fort Atkinson resident is among three Wisconsin residents who have been chosen to hunt elk during the 2022 season. 

According to information released Tuesday by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the opportunity is considered one that is “once in a lifetime.” 

Elk hunting season opens Oct. 15, according to the information released. 

“The DNR randomly selected the three hunters from more than 25,000 applicants,” the release stated, adding that the other two hunters selected are from Hudson and New Richmond.

“Making these calls to application winners is something I look forward to every year,” Josh Spiegel, DNR wildlife biologist, was quoted as saying in the release, adding that all three hunters were surprised when they received his call.  

According to the release, in May, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board approved a harvest quota of eight bulls from the northern elk management zone, which is the same number of tags approved for the 2021 season. 

Of the eight tags, the DNR will award three to state hunters, with a fourth tag being issued through a drawing by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The Ojibwe tribes will receive an allocation for the remaining four elk tags per their treaty rights within the Ceded Territory, the release stated. 

The 2022 elk hunting season will occur only in Wisconsin’s northern elk zone in parts of Ashland, Bayfield, Price, Rusk and Sawyer counties, where the first restoration effort began with 25 elk from Michigan in 1995. The northern elk herd population is projected to reach 336 animals this year, the release stated. 

Although the state’s central elk herd is projected, after calving, to reach a population of 130 elk this summer, hunting will not occur in the central elk management zone in 2022, the release noted.