A special elk depredation season was ordered for July in a portion of southwest Nebraska because of excessive crop damage caused by elk.
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Director Tim McCoy signed a special depredation order for a season July 1-31 in an 873-square-mile area located in specific parts of Lincoln, Perkins, Keith, Deuel and Garden counties.
The season was valid on private land only. Game and Parks staff worked with landowners for several years to lower elk herds to an acceptable level in cropland areas. Several small elk herds inhabit crop fields through harvest, then disperse randomly, making it difficult for hunters to take elk during the late general season.
The special season was established to allow hunters and landowners the opportunity to help reduce the population before the general elk season. The objective was to alleviate damage to crops and property caused by consumption of crops, trampling and wallows.
Permits were available to residents, nonresidents and landowners owning at least 80 acres within the hunting area, but landowners were required to hunt their own land.
Starting June 27, permits were available for purchase at the Game and Parks office in North Platte. The permit bag limit was one elk of either sex, but hunters could buy more than one permit.
Harvested elk had to be checked in via internet or telephone. Permits issued to hunters participating in this season did not count against their personal limits or ability to hunt during a regular big game season.
About a week after the announcement, Game and Parks announced that access to land in the depredation season area was extremely limited, because landowners in contact with Game and Parks indicated they were at capacity for the number of hunters they could safely allow. It was reported that landowners within the depredation season area received an overwhelming number of calls from hunters.
Game and Parks was exercising the authority granted under Nebraska Revised Statue 37-448 to designate a special elk depredation season. In June 2021, Game and Parks adopted regulations for the special depredation season that was passed during the 2021 Legislative session.
In a news release June 28, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission depredation program manager Dusty Schelbitzki said, “We want to thank all the landowners who are allowing permission and all the hunters who have shown their interest. This is a great collaboration to assist our agency in addressing depredation issues we are challenged with in the identified region.”
In other action in June, Game and Parks approved staff recommendations for 2023 mountain lion season. Commissioners approved a season in the Pine Ridge similar to 2022, with a maximum harvest of four cats, with a sublimit of two females.
The number of permits issued via lottery will be lowered from 320 to 200. This change is an effort to boost hunter satisfaction by increasing the probability of a longer season. The harvest objective is to allow the mountain lion population to remain resilient and healthy, while halting growth or moderately reducing the population size.
The most recent estimate for the Pine Ridge population from the 2021 genetic survey is 33 mountain lions.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission designated the season in several southwest counties in July.
