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Minnesota elk hunters had an 80% success rate during the season in Kittson County that began Saturday, Sept. 21, and wrapped up Sunday, Sept. 29, according to statistics from the state Department of Natural Resources.

The Minnesota DNR offered 10 elk tags this year 鈥� three either-sex and two antlerless-only tags in Zone 20 (Kittson Central herd) and five either-sex tags in Zone 30 (Caribou-Vita) herd.

According to Kelsie LaSharr, DNR elk coordinator, the three hunters with either-sex tags in Zone 20 near Lancaster, Minnesota, all shot bulls, while neither of the two hunters with antlerless-only tags in Zone 20 were successful.

In Zone 30, the Caribou Township area in northeast Kittson County, all five of the hunters with either-sex tags shot bulls, for a success rate of 100%.

The Red Lake Nation again this fall is holding a tribal hunt in the 1863 Treaty Territory 鈥� also known as the Old Crossing Territory 鈥� and issued 30 tags for a season that began Sept. 15 and continues through Dec. 31. According to Jay Huseby, wildlife director for the Red Lake DNR, tribal hunters as of Wednesday, Oct. 9, had taken nine elk 鈥� all bulls. Red Lake Nation offered 30 elk licenses in 2023, as well, and tribal hunters shot 10 elk 鈥� nine bulls and one cow.

The Minnesota DNR offered 17 elk licenses in 2023, and state hunters shot 11 elk 鈥� eight bulls and three antlerless 鈥� between Zones 20 and 30.

In related elk news, the Minnesota DNR in January will launch to learn more about the herd鈥檚 reproduction and survival rate. The goal of the study is to build on information gathered during an initial 2016-2018 research project.

鈥� Brad Dokken

begins Sunday, Oct. 13, and continues through Saturday, Oct. 19, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a news release. Founded in 1903, the provides nearby nature to millions of Americans while conserving vital wildlife habitat. North Dakota has more than 60 national wildlife refuges, the most of any state in the country.

National Wildlife Refuge Week occurs yearly during the second full week of October. For the fourth year in a row, the Fish and Wildlife Service will partner with the Public Lands Alliance to host more than 35 free walking events at wildlife refuges across the country in celebration of Refuge Week.

Brad Dokken / Grand Forks Herald

Near Grand Forks, the Friends of Rydell and Glacial Ridge Refuges Association will host a from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, at Rydell National Wildlife Refuge near Erskine, Minnesota. The event will include a designated 5K route with three different paved, yet scenic trails. A nature hike led by a Friends group member will begin at 12:30 p.m. Visitors, either guided or on their own, can grab a nature bingo scavenger hunt card in the Visitor Center to play along the way for a chance to enter a giveaway at the end. Refreshments will be available in the Visitor Center after the walk.

Registration for the 5K is free, and donations are welcome. To register for the 5K event or to donate, go to . All donations received will benefit interpretive and educational programs at the refuge, along with continuing accessibility for all to the outdoors.

For more information, contact Larissa Fitzgerald of the Friends of Rydell and Glacial Ridge Refuges Association at (571) 499-3880, by email at lafitzgerald10@gmail.com or call the Rydell NWR office at (218) 687-2229.

鈥� staff report

ST. PAUL 鈥� Minnesota鈥檚 youth deer season will take place statewide Thursday, Oct. 17, through Sunday, Oct. 20, the DNR said in a reminder. The season coincides with statewide teacher workshops, so many Minnesota students don鈥檛 have school during the youth season.

To participate, youth hunters must be 10 to 17 years old and have a deer license. Participant numbers are not limited and there is no special permit, so parents should obtain a regular deer hunting license for each youth who will be hunting. Youth may not tag antlerless deer or legal bucks taken by another individual. An adult parent, guardian or mentor must accompany 10- to 13-year-old youth hunters.

All hunters and mentors, regardless of whether they are participating in youth deer season, must follow blaze orange/pink clothing requirements. Fabric or synthetic ground blinds on public land must have a blaze orange safety covering on top of the blind that is visible from all directions, or a patch made of blaze orange that is at least 144 square inches (12x12 inches) on each side of the blind.

Adults may not hunt, unless they are in an area open during the early antlerless season and have a valid license. Complete youth season details are available on the Minnesota DNR at mndnr.gov/hunting/deer/youth.html.

Hunters can check the chronic wasting disease sampling options and carcass movement restrictions for the deer permit areas where they hunt on the DNR website at mndnr.gov/deerhunt.

The DNR is offering the early antlerless-only deer season in select permit areas during the same dates as the statewide youth season. Permit areas open during the antlerless-only hunt are 214, 215, 218, 219, 221, 222, 223, 225, 227, 229, 236, 341, 605, 642, 643, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 661 and 701.

The season increases opportunities for hunters in deer permit areas where deer populations are above management goals or where there is an increased risk of CWD. The bag limit is three antlerless deer, and deer taken during the early antlerless-only season do not count against the statewide bag limit or the DPA bag limit.

• More info: mndnr.gov/regulations/hunting.

鈥� staff report

WASHINGTON 鈥� Bipartisan legislation supporting the protection of America鈥檚 grasslands and shrub ecosystems was introduced Wednesday, Oct. 9, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Authoring the were Reps. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina; Sharice Davis, D-Kansas; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania; and Mike Thompson, D- California. If passed, the legislation would be one of the most significant steps for grassland conservation efforts in the 21st century, supporters say.

鈥淗unters are among the first to see the effects of habitat loss and degradation, and for decades we鈥檝e seen populations of bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, pronghorn and other grassland wildlife suffer,鈥� said Aaron Field, director of private lands conservation for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. 鈥淚t鈥檚 long past time to replicate on grasslands the proven model of voluntary, incentive-based conservation that has boosted waterfowl populations for nearly 35 years. The North American Grasslands Conservation Act puts us on that path.鈥�

Functionally, the legislation is modeled after the successful North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) and would create a landowner-driven, voluntary, incentive-based program to conserve America鈥檚 critically imperiled grasslands.

The concept of a Grasslands Act was first introduced in the U.S. Senate during the 117th Congress, led by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; and Michael Bennet, D-Colorado. The new U.S. House version has some key changes aligning it more closely with NAWCA, improving tribal provisions and making it more bipartisan.

鈥� staff report