SaskatchewanHunters in Saskatchewan are voicing concerns over a new open hunt in the southern portion of the province on anterless elk to start in November, citing poor planning, risks, and potential long-term damage to local herds.The province says anterless elk licences will be available Nov. 3 for $30Sarah Onyango · CBC News · Posted: Oct 06, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoThe Saskatchewan government’s announcement of an open antlerless elk season across the southern portion of the province has sparked concern from members of the hunting community who say the move lacks meaningful consultation. (submitted by Sue Thomas)The Saskatchewan government introduced an anterless elk hunt across the southern half of the province last Thursday, saying it wanted to reduce agricultural damage caused by growing elk populations. But some hunters and landowners say the move, wide-ranging with no-quota on elk, feels rushed and could put pressure on some of the more fragile herds in the province. “It’s basically a blanket open season on elk in the whole half of southern Saskatchewan,” said Jordan Baun, a hunter based in Estevan, Sask.Within days of the announcement, hunters and landowners on Facebook voiced concerns on the unlimited licence hunt that overlaps with deer rifle season. “It’s going to be an absolute war zone out there between rifle deer and rifle elk,” Baun said. “So now these are pretty much being hunted nonstop from September. You’re going to have a couple weeks off in October for certain zones, and then November they’re going to be hunted again.”Like many in the hunting community, Baun said he initially tried to keep an open mind when the hunt was announced, understanding that elk in Saskatchewan sometimes pose significant issues for producers. “I know that there are lots of landowners and farmers out there who do have issues with elk wrecking their crop, you know, being in their yards in the winter, eating their feed that they have for their livestock.” However, he says his optimism waned once he dug into the details. He described how some zones, like his local areas of 31, 32, 15, and 16, haven’t even had active elk hunting seasons in years.”There’s maybe only 100 elk between zone 31 and 32, and if 50 or 60 people decide that they’re going to go shoot one, well, there goes half our elk population that we worked so hard to to bring back.” He said in those same zones, the total elk population is small, meaning aggressive harvesting could make for dwindling numbers come winter. “We used to be able to hunt them 15 years ago and between that and a few hard winters, they had to close the season because there wasn’t enough animals to be hunted.” Jordan Baun, a long-time hunter in Saskatchewan, is critical of the government’s anterless elk hunt announcement. He says he supports helping farmers but feels the overlapping seasons in November may increase safety risks and hunting pressure on animals. (Submitted by Jordan Baun)Baun also pointed out how elk behaviour changes under hunting pressure. “They’re intelligent creatures. They’re smart and once they’ve been shot at, they go nocturnal for a few weeks until things kind of simmer down,” he said.”I mean, good luck finding these animals once they’ve been hunted hard for this many months.” Wildlife federation ‘blindsided’Though critical, Braun says he’s not against helping landowners or controlling elk where needed, and does plan on contacting a few to see if they are having issues. “If they are, I will go out and help them. But that will not be in the zones that don’t have a regular draw elk season.” The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation also voiced concerns about the rollout of the anterless elk hunt. In a statement on Oct. 3, the group said it was not consulted before the policy was announced.”We believe that a more targeted and controlled approach would have been more effective in mitigating the challenges faced by farmers and ranchers,” said the statement. On Sunday the federation met to discuss the numerous inquires regarding the announcement of the anterless elk hunt. The Ministry of Environment did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.ABOUT THE AUTHORSarah Onyango is a reporter and producer at CBC Saskatchewan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Regina. Sarah is passionate about diverse storytelling in Saskatchewan. She can be reached at sarah.onyango@cbc.ca
Sask. hunter raises concern over management, strategy of open anterless elk hunt
