DNR completes annual aerial elk population survey 

The Minnesota DNR completed its annual aerial elk population survey over the winter in northwest Minnesota, in Kittson, Marshall, Roseau and Beltrami counties where elk are found in three distinct herds, or groups.

The DNR conducted the survey Jan. 5-7 when weather and snow conditions allowed managers the best opportunity to effectively see and count individuals and groups of elk. A total of 233 elk were counted in the Grygla, Kittson Central and Caribou-Vita herds in the 2025 elk survey.

Since the mid-1990s, DNR staff has conducted aerial surveys to estimate elk abundance within each herd. Surveys are conducted in blocks that encompass the winter range of each herd, about 500 square miles, using two fixed-wing aircraft with two observers and a pilot in each plane. The pilot aims to maintain a flight altitude of 350 feet and speed of 85 mph. The crew searches for elk along parallel, east-west transects spaced at 0.2-mile intervals. When an elk is sighted, the plane circles the observed animal or animals to determine group size and classify antlerless (cow, calf) and antlered animals. GIS and mapping software is used guide transect navigation and record survey data. 

Aerial surveys are vital to elk management in Minnesota. Survey data are used to monitor long-term trends, document changes in elk spatial distribution and sex ratios and help set harvest quotas for potential hunting seasons.  

DNR postpones elk research project in northwest Minnesota

The Minnesota DNR postponed the elk research project in northwest Minnesota due to scheduling delays and unfavorable conditions to safely and successfully capture and collar elk.

Capture efforts were planned for January 2025, when temperature and snow conditions are typically optimal for spotting and capturing elk. Scheduling delays by the contracted helicopter capture company pushed captures to mid-March, when the project area had no or minimal snowpack.

The DNR made the decision to postpone the project out of an abundance of caution for the health and well-being of the elk. In addition to higher temperatures and lack of snow cover, the delays had pushed the capture window into the late-term pregnancy period for cow elk, where capture and handling present the greatest risk to both cows and calves.

The project is rescheduled for the winters of 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. Researchers plan to capture 25 adult cows and up to 15 adult bulls each of these two winter seasons and fit the animals with GPS collars that will collect their locations every three hours and alert researchers of potential mortality events. Biological samples will also be collected to assess herd health and genetic diversity.

Funding for the elk research project comes from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and approved by the Minnesota Legislature. The DNR is also providing in-kind support.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Moehring, USFWS

Health testing required for harvested elk

Did you know that the Minnesota DNR requires health testing for all hunter harvested elk? 

Disease testing is an important way for the DNR to monitor the health of the state’s wild elk population, especially since elk occasionally interact with domestic animals like cattle and horses. Since 2004, the DNR has required hunters to bring their harvested elk into a DNR office where DNR staff collect biological samples that are used to screen for a variety of diseases and parasites to assess the health of the animals. Staff collect hair, muscle, cranial lymph nodes, brain stem, and an incisor tooth used to age the elk. The DNR uses these samples to test for important infectious diseases like bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease. To date, neither disease has been found in wild elk in Minnesota.  

The DNR also investigates reports of sick or dead elk. In 2023, a bull elk was reported dead on private property near Warroad, MN. Residents have reported that this bull had been living in the area for many years. To determine cause of death, the DNR ordered a necropsy that determined this bull was 20 years old — a remarkable age for a male elk! It is suspected that this bull elk likely died of old age.  

Since 2002, the DNR has conducted health testing on more than 380 elk, leading to a high confidence that the herds in the northwest Minnesota are quite healthy. 

A different coat for a different season 

Like many other animals, an elk’s coat color and thickness change between summer and winter to adapt to seasonal temperature changes. The color change helps elk blend into their surroundings, protecting them from predators. The coat thickness helps them stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  

Day length is the primary cue for an elk to change coats. As days get longer in March, elk begin to shed their winter coat and grow a summer coat. As days get shorter in September, elk begin to grow their winter coat. 

In winter, elk will have a light tan body and a thick, dark mane that hangs from neck to chest. Their coat will consist of thick, wooly under hairs covered by longer guard hairs with a honeycomb configuration on the inside that traps air to provide insulation. It can keep them warm in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero.  

In spring, elk will completely molt their winter coat while a short, copper-colored summer coat begins to grow underneath. The hair of the summer coat is all the same length and more uniform in color than the winter coat and helps them stay cooler during hot weather. Elk can look a bit “shabby” while they lose their thick winter coat. Shedding the thick mat of hair can also be quite bothersome to the elk, which are commonly seen scratching themselves with their hind feet or licking patches of old hair to remove them.  

Photo courtesy of the USFWS

DNR staff profile: Amanda McGraw

In January, the Minnesota DNR welcomed Dr. Amanda McGraw as the new deer, moose and elk scientist in the Wildlife section’s research group, and part of her work will involve Minnesota elk.

McGraw joined the Minnesota DNR after serving as a forest ecology research scientist and wildlife research scientist at the Wisconsin DNR, and before that researching moose and deer habitat use in northeast Minnesota. Since her work will include elk research, we asked her some elk-related questions for Elk Notes.

What do you find interesting about elk in Minnesota?

The history of elk in Minnesota is fascinating. Their native range included much of the state (except present moose range in northeast Minnesota) prior to European settlement, they were extirpated because of habitat loss, and then were both reintroduced and naturally recolonized areas where our present-day elk herds occur in northwest Minnesota. The cross-boundary collaboration with Manitoba to monitor the Caribou-Vita herd is also interesting and a unique experience.

What led you to want to become a wildlife researcher?

A love of the outdoors and dumb luck, ha! I grew up in an outdoors family where we spent our free time hunting, fishing and exploring natural places. When I went to college, I thought I wanted to become a veterinarian because that would allow me to work with animals. However, while in my first semester at University of Wisconsin-Madison, I discovered the wildlife ecology program and immediately knew that a career in wildlife was my goal. During my master’s program at University of Minnesota Duluth I fell in love with the research side of things and the rest is history. I went on to earn my doctoral degree at the University of Minnesota and began my professional career in wildlife and forestry research with Wisconsin DNR where I worked for 8 years.

You’ve been a forest ecology research scientist, a wildlife research scientist focusing on habitat and weather impacts on deer health and demographics, and have also studied moose and deer habitat use in northeast Minnesota. In your new role, how will your work involve elk?

I’ll be taking over as the lead scientist on a new elk study in northwest Minnesota, where captures will take place to collar adult elk in the winter of 2025-2026. We will track up to 80 elk for up to 5 years. Safe to say that this research project will take up a significant amount of my time over the next several years, and I am excited about it! Several of our objectives for this project include improving our aerial survey methods and population estimates, determining adult and calf cause-specific mortality, quantifying movement (migration and dispersal) among the three subpopulations, defining habitat use, and determining diet and diet quality during periods of high energy demand, such as the peak lactation period.

What do you want to know more about when it comes to Minnesota elk? 

I’m curious about how bull and cow elk in northwest Minnesota are using that landscape and how that use various among seasons. In particular, I’m curious about the characteristics of habitats that cows choose as calving sites and how that impacts calf survival in those early days after birth. Also of interest is which areas are most attractive to cows during periods of high energy demand, such as lactation, and what the characteristics of those habitats are. Additionally, bull movement patterns during hunting seasons is of interest to determine how bulls react to hunting pressure.

Anything else about elk or elk habitat that you’d like to share?

Elk, much like white-tailed deer, are what we consider a generalist species, which means they don’t typically depend on one thing for them to survive and thrive in an environment. Rather, they are adaptable to a wide range of conditions, which is why we find elk everywhere from the western mountains to the southwestern deserts, to the temperate forests of the Midwest and eastern U.S. This can make things both easy and more difficult when considering which components of their environment might be beneficial or limiting to their health and population growth. I’m excited to tackle this challenge of understanding habitat needs of elk in Minnesota.

Top photo, McGraw with a moose collared for her doctoral research; bottom, McGraw holding a white-tailed deer fawn during collaring for a deer study in Wisconsin