Elk Overpopulated

It's an animal that is causing some problems in southwestern North Dakota. Sarah Gustin brings u...  More »

It's an animal that is causing some problems in southwestern North Dakota. Sarah Gustin brings us to the issue of the state's growing elk population. Each year the elk population grows into a bigger problem for North Dakota. (Randy Kreil / ND Game and Fish) No matter what we do in terms of licenses issued wether we can increase hunter success or increase the amount of time people can hunt if all that goes all well as we want it too. It still won't fix the probelm insdie the park and people need to remember that. Theodore Roosevelt National Park truly has more than they bargained for. Kreil says the park aims to maintain an elk population of about 360. Currently, there are nearly one-thousand elk in the park and spring calving is just around the corner. (Randy Kreil / ND Game and Fish) As the park tries to figure out how to handle things inside the park it is our responsiblity to manage elk outside the park. And so we have been aggressive in trying to provide additional hunting opportunities and manage the population the best we can. North Dakota Game and Fish is proposing some big changes for the 2008 elk hunting season. Kreil says they are requesting to increase elk licesnes by 140. He says they are also looking at adding another unit, E5, which would cover the area of the state not currently in a unit, which includes the Turtle Mountains. (Randy Kreil / ND Game and Fish) Once and a while an elk will show up in a place that really isn't elk habitat, but people may have an opportunity to take that animal. In the past those elk have gotten in trouble with agricultural producers and sometimes have even gotten mixed up with some of those capitive elk herds that are out there. Unit E5 was created for lottery license holders. Governor Hoven must approve all of the proposed changes. Reporting for KX News, I am Sarah Gustin. Anyone interested in learning more about possible elk hunting changes are encouraged to visit the North Dakota Game and Fish Website.  « Less