‘Weeks away from calving’: Sask. hunters raise ethical concerns as province opens spring elk hunt

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2006 file photo, a bull elk keeps a watchful eye on a herd of cow elk in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

A decision to extend antlerless elk hunting in certain parts of the province this month is raising ethical concerns among Saskatchewan hunters.

The provincial government says it’s offered additional licences for hunters to harvest elk in three different zones of the province due to concerns over damage from wildlife and to obtain samples for bovine tuberculosis testing.

From March 10 to 31, licence holders can hunt elk in Zone 39, just west of Yorkton running as far north as Kelvington and east to about Foam Lake, the RM of Leask, situated between Blaine Lake and Shellbrook, and the RM of Stanley, northeast of Fort Qu’Appelle and west of Melville.

On Saturday, the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) spoke out against the move. It says it’s opting not to open any of its habitat trust lands for the hunt.

“This decision is based on the ethical concerns of harvesting cow elk who are just a few weeks away from calving,” SWF Executive Director Darrell Crabbe said in a statement posted to social media.

The wildlife federation says rather than encouraging the cull of pregnant female elk, the province should consider compensating agricultural producers for losses due to wildlife damage and adjust the number of licences for the regular fall hunt if it wants to reduce numbers in any designated wildlife management zone.

In a statement to CTV News Monday afternoon, the Ministry of Environment said it didn’t make the decision lightly.

“Late season hunts are rare, as most population management can be accomplished through existing hunting seasons.”

The ministry said that it’s responding to “above-average reported claims to stacked forage” from farmers in some areas, while the potential risk for the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB) among cattle was the leading factor in others.

Two cases of bovine TB have been reported in the province since 2023, the ministry says — two unrelated, never-before-seen strains of the virus.

“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has launched an investigation into a case of bovine TB in a single cow originating from a cattle herd in southeastern Saskatchewan. This is the second case of bovine TB detection in a cattle herd in Saskatchewan since 2023. It appears that the strains of bovine TB identified in the two herds are not related and this strain has never previously been identified in animals or humans in Canada,” the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the late season hunt will double as an infectious disease surveillance effort, “to prevent the transmission of bovine TB between livestock, wildlife and humans.”

“While bovine TB has never been detected in wildlife in Saskatchewan, wildlife surveillance is a component of every bovine tuberculosis investigation, as it is important to ensure that the disease has not spilled over into surrounding populations of susceptible wildlife.”

As part of the terms of the spring elk hunt, the province says it’s mandatory that hunters submit the heads of any animals killed in the RM of Stanley or in Zone 39 for bovine tuberculosis testing.

The heads must be submitted by March 31, the province says.

“This will help in providing samples towards the province’s bovine tuberculosis surveillance effort, which will continue in the fall of 2025.”

Hunters in the RM of Leask are also encouraged to submit samples for chronic wasting disease testing, although those are not mandatory.

“Hunters are important stewards of wildlife in our province — they are always encouraged to use ethical hunting practices to ensure undue stress is not placed on an animal prior to being harvested,” the ministry said.