Hunters, advocacy groups raise concerns about hunting pregnant elk as Sask. extends season

Chris Edwards · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 6:03 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Saskatchewan hunters and advocacy groups are speaking retired aft the Saskatchewan authorities extended the elk hunting play into March for three areas of the province. 

In a uncommon hold of the accepted hunting season, the provincial authorities is offering licences for elk hunting from March 10 to 31. The licences are constricted to hunting wrong WMZ 39, westbound of Yorkton, the RM of Stanley, northeast of Fort Qu'Appelle, and the RM of Leask, northbound of Saskatoon. 

The authorities says the extended hunting is permitted owed to wildlife harm connected farms, and to cod samples of bovine tuberculosis successful WMZ 39 and RM of Stanley. 

The announcement was met by absorption from carnal rights and Indigenous groups, who accidental the hunt is unethical and breaks Indigenous taste norms. Offering licences successful March volition mean the immense bulk of the pistillate elk hunted volition beryllium respective months pregnant.

On March 12, ineligible advocacy radical Animal Justice sent a missive to Saskatchewan's Minister of the Environment Travis Keisig, arguing the determination was contrary to Saskatchewan's Animal Protection Act.

Animal Justice claimed that hunting large elk during this clip of twelvemonth contravenes the Act's prohibition connected causing undue distress for animals whilst hunting. The Act does stipulate exceptions to that rule, arsenic agelong arsenic they autumn wrong "reasonable and mostly accepted practices" of hunting.

According to Kaitlyn Mitchell, the group's Director of Legal Advocacy, that objection has not been met. 

"It truly runs successful the look of the regularisation of instrumentality to grow the goalposts," she said. "Just due to the fact that immoderate folks privation to sprout elk successful the spring, abruptly we're going to see that to besides beryllium reasonable, mostly accepted. It's conscionable not."

"We are talking astir sentient, social, intelligent animals who merit our compassion and respect."

Goes against taste values: FSIN

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents 74 First Nations successful Saskatchewan, has besides called connected the authorities to halt the licensing process. It says the determination goes against its taste values connected the hunting of large elk, and was done without its consultation.

"It's hard to enactment into words, but you conscionable don't bash that. You don't spell and termination babies that are successful the tummies of ineffable animals specified arsenic the elk," said FSIN main Bobby Cameron. "There are different methods, different means, different ways of addressing the older population."

"We'll accidental this to each the onshore owners, workplace farmers retired there. If you're moving into this problem, telephone us."

For immoderate hunters, the morals of hunting large elk travel down to a explanation of what constitutes a pregnancy. 

In Saskatchewan the emblematic elk hunting play runs betwixt September and precocious December, usually for abbreviated windows of a fewer weeks. Preventing hunting extracurricular of these areas is meant to let elk populations to carnivore calves successful the summer. Female elk — known arsenic cows — mate successful the autumn and are large for astir 250 days, meaning galore are already large during the authoritative hunting season. 

Rebecca Russell, an elk huntsman from Last Mountain Lake northbound westbound of Regina, says that's a cardinal distinction. 

"You're inactive shooting a cattle and it could perchance inactive beryllium pregnant. But my presumption of it is if you're shooting it aboriginal successful the year, accidental September, they're pregnant, but it's not a breathing calf," she said. "Most apt [in March] they are breathing wrong the cow. So they're alive, but they're not calved yet."

"I benignant of recognize wherefore they're doing it. I conscionable don't hold erstwhile they're doing it," she said, noting that she's spoken to respective hunters who person bought the hunting tags with the volition of not utilizing them, "saving 2 cows and 2 elk." 

Russell suggests an alternate of selling much hunting tags and expanding the hunting windows, allowing for greater colonisation power wherever elk populations origin harm to farms. 

Bovine tuberculosis worries

In a statement, the authorities of Saskatchewan confirmed it had received Animal Justice's missive and acknowledged the concerns from the FSIN.

"The determination to let further hunting opportunities is not made lightly and is influenced by a assortment of factors," it said, referencing above-average reported harm claims successful the 3 hunting areas and emphasizing the interest astir the dispersed of bovine tuberculosis.

According to the government, a cattle from a herd successful southeastern Saskatchewan precocious tested affirmative for bovine tuberculosis, the 2nd lawsuit recovered successful the state since 2023.

As a information of the March hunting licence, the connection read, immoderate elk taken from RM of Stanley oregon WMZ 39 indispensable person its caput submitted for investigating for bovine tuberculosis.

"Wildlife surveillance is simply a constituent of each bovine tuberculosis investigation, arsenic it is important to guarantee that the illness has not spilled implicit into surrounding populations of susceptible wildlife," it said.

For Ryan Brook, a prof astatine the University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources, the menace of bovine tuberculosis is simply a beardown crushed to undertake the extended hunt. 

The disease, which tin dispersed betwixt chaotic elk and cattle herds via hay bales, tin beryllium hugely destructive for farms, Brook said. And if the illness is detected successful adjacent a azygous animal, helium said, past the full herd would person to beryllium removed and destroyed.

"I deliberation that investigating is very, precise critical," helium said. "The conception of conscionable not collecting immoderate much samples successful March and waiting 'til fall? Bovine TB tin dispersed very, precise rapidly. And erstwhile it becomes established successful the wildlife population, it's precise difficult, if not intolerable to eradicate."

"So timing is of the essence, and I enactment immoderate and each actions that are assertive and proactive to get successful beforehand of this," helium said.  

"Concerns astir morals are surely not mislaid connected me, oregon anybody other that I've talked to astir this. And truthful these are precise morganatic and due things to deliberation and speech about. But again, determination is nary elemental answer."