The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is trying to track down who illegally shot an elk in the Black River Falls area last month.
It received the report March 18 of a dead elk on private property north of Black River Falls, off of East Snow Creek Road.
In trying to determine what happened, it was found that male elk died from injuries from a gunshot wound.
A release from the DNR said the bull elk, known as #244, wore a GPS radio collar. That, and nearby trail cameras, gave investigators information on the shooting.
The release said the elk was one of the last remaining ones from the initial herd brought from Kentucky in 2016. It was one of the primary breeding bulls for the herd.
“The illegal shooting of bull 244 is a tremendous loss for the central elk herd and citizens of Wisconsin,” Christina Kizewski, a central elk herd biologist, said. “The illegal harvest of a bull of this magnitude reduces opportunity to the hunting community and to recreationalists attempting to photograph or see elk within Jackson County. Bull 244 was one of the largest and most photographed bulls in the state and has contributed to the successful growth of the newly established herd through his breeding efforts.”
Anyone with information on the shooting can contact the DNR’s confidential Violation Hotline online or call 1-800-847-9367.
There are more than 400 elk in Wisconsin following their re-introduction to the state in 1995.
Approximately 188 are in the Central Herd around the Black River Falls area.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Bull elk No. 244, shown in a 2024 trail cam image, was illegally shot in March in Jackson County (PHOTO: Wisconsin DNR)