During the week of Nov. 23, conservation officers located two elk that had been shot and left. The meat from one of the elk was salvaged by officers and donated to a local food drive. (Sasktip/Facebook)

By Teena Monteleone

Elk cull

Effect of short-term antlerless elk hunt remain to be seen

Dec 6, 2025 | 9:58 AM

The Ministry of Environment said it’s too early to assess the full impact of a short-term hunting season for antlerless elk.

A total of 11,546 tags were sold for the hunt that run from Nov. 20-27. The government said it was offered in response to growing landowner concerns about the high number of elk congregating on their property and causing damage.

In an email to paNOW, the Ministry of Environment wrote, “Now that the hunt is concluded, hunter harvest surveys will be used to assess both harvest levels and hunters’ success of obtaining landowner access. The results will be considered in future wildlife management planning. It is too early to assess the hunt’s impact in addressing landowner/agricultural producer concerns.”

When the short-term hunt was announced in October, Environment Minister Travis Keisig said the program’s success would rest with landowners.

“Allowing access to land is key, and when landowners open their gates to hunters, it helps manage wildlife impacts on crops and forage. That’s a win for producers and hunters alike.”

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But the limited opportunity hunt led to significant criticism online. The Saskatchewan Turn in Poachers (SASKTIP) line reported several instances of elk left to waste in various places.

In one instance, Spiritwood conservation officers were patrolling near Rabbit Lake and located two cow elk left behind. Officers believe the responsible person(s) were shooting into a herd of elk and were potentially unaware that they had shot and killed multiple animals.

“No surprise with the free-for-all, open elk cull season. I’m sure this is only a small portion of the waste left behind by this cow cull,” commented one person.

“Are you surprised? I’m not, lucky no one is dead out there. There’s guys firing into running herds when there are 500 people on that section,” wrote another on the Sasktip Facebook page.

Todd Smith, executive director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, said his office received numerous concerns from citizens in the province about trespassing on private land, unethical hunting and waste of game or poaching cases. He said he fielded about 20 complaints a day.

“There was a lot of competition for access to land and resource access. It was compounded by the placement of the season, which was right in the middle of the whitetail rifle season, which is a very popular big game season within the province,” Smith said. “So, it would have added to the number of people on the landscape at the time, so it was kind of inevitable that you would run into some situations.”

Smith also noted an uptick in the number of people who purchased the $30 license who weren’t ‘up to speed or knowledgable’ about what was required to legally hunt within the province.

While he understands the need to balance wildlife and agricultural producers needs, he said wildlife management strategies need to be backed by science.

“We have to approach it with set quotas and limits and make sure that the targets that we set are achievable and realizable.”

paNOW attempted to find out how many non-compliance violations were issued during the elk cull, but the information was not available by the time of publication.

Violations in 2024

A press release earlier in the week indicated that in 2024, the TIPP line received 1,534 reports about illegal hunting, fishing and timber harvesting, as well as environmental offences such as illegal dumping or burning.

“Public tips continue to play an important role in helping our conservation officers respond to illegal activity and protect our natural resources,” Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod, K.C. said.

Many investigations that started with a TIPP call ended with convictions. In 2024, conservation officers issued 3,089 written warnings and laid 1,833 charges.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com