DNR seeks info on elk poaching

GRYGLA — Authorities are seeking information on a large bull elk that was shot and left last week in eastern Marshall County north of Grygla.

According to 1st Lt. Pat Znajda, District 1 enforcement supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the elk was reported Thursday and appeared to have been shot sometime in the past 24 hours. The elk was found in a green field, Znajda said.

The elk is part of the Grygla herd, and the DNR didn’t offer a hunting season in the area this year because the population is below management goals. The elk was killed in Veldt Township, which is north of Grygla and east of Gatzke, Znajda said.

“It’s sad,” he said. “You look at it and think, ‘that would be a nice trophy elk for someone to harvest,’ and you look at all the meat that went to waste. The herd numbers there are a little bit down, and every one they lose either illegally or by natural causes influences that, as well.”

Znajda is asking anyone with information on the elk shooting to contact the state’s Turn in Poachers hotline at (800) 652-9093.