The Chippewa Tribes began their annual Elk Hunt on Friday, Sep. 13, and two tribes had successfully filled their tags with bull elk, Keweenaw Bay and St. Croix on that day.
On Saturday, Marvin DeFoe of Red Cliff and Bobby Williams of Lac du Flambeau filled their tag.
Representing LCO in the hunt are Gary “Little Guy” Clause and Rusty Barber.
Bagging a state record elk on Friday for St. Croix was Will LaPointe, who also hunted with Conrad St. John. Biologists came and took sample of the elks lung, liver, blood, brain stem and lymph nodes checking for CWD and other diseases, and to check on the overall health of the herd.
LaPointe said much of the elk will be distributed amongst the tribe, including tribal elders.
Each year a total of 10 tags for bull elks are issued, five of which go in a random drawing for state hunters and five are designated to the tribes. All 5 bulls the tribes may take are from the Clam Lake herd. There are currently over 200 elk in the herd and nearly 100 more elk in the Black River Falls herd, which was introduced in 2015. The Clam Lake herd of elk was the initial re-introduction of elk to Wisconsin in 1995.
Tribal hunters gather prior to the start of the hunt on Sep. 13. Prayers were done by Joe Rose (Bad River), Marvin DeFoe (Red Cliff), Bobby Williams (LDF), Rusty Barber (LCO) and John Johnson, Voigt Task Force Chairman. The hunters and their rifles were smudged for a safe and successful hunt.
Will LaPointe of St. Croix with his record-setter bull elk bagged on Friday, Sep. 13.
Marvin DeFoe and Bobby Williams holding their 5x5 bull elk harvested on Saturday.