Teton Park's elk reduction hunt begins Saturday

JACKSON (WNE) — Beginning Saturday, hunters will be glassing the area east of Highway 89 in Grand Teton National Park for elk to bring home for supper.

The hunt, which Teton Park calls the “elk reduction program,” takes place every year. It was authorized through the 1950 legislation that expanded the park, which allowed for the “proper management and protection of the elk.” Park officials and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department use the hunt to manage the population and distribution of wapiti.

This year, the department issued 40 tags for cows and calves. The hunt will run from Saturday through Dec. 6. Visitors recreating in the area are “strongly encouraged” to wear bright colors, according to a Teton Park press release.

The elk reduction program is significantly smaller than it was just a handful of years ago. In 2022, the department offered 475 permits for the hunt. In 2023, wildlife managers dropped permits by 90%, to about 40.

That’s because the herd has been facing a multiyear population slump. Wildlife managers counted about 10,000 elk in the Jackson herd last winter, meaning the herd is about 10% below objective.

The elk reduction program has been shrinking for even longer. In the 1990s, wildlife managers issued more than 3,000 permits for the hunt. In the mid-2010s, wildlife managers got rid of bull hunting in the park and closed Hunt Area 79, which is north of Hunt Area 75, to decrease hunting pressure on migratory elk.

The percentage of elk that migrate long distances — summering in Yellowstone National Park and the Teton Wilderness — has been declining over the past two decades, while “suburban” elk that migrate to the West Bank in the summer have seen explosive growth. Wildlife managers are testing out ways to redistribute hunting pressure to grow the migratory segment and rein in those summering in suburbia.

Elk that migrate to Teton Park are mid-distance migrants.

This story was published on Nov. 12, 2026. 

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