Minnesota Elk Breeders Association

Standards for Harvest Ranch Operations in Minnesota

PURPOSE – To enhance and promote harvesting Elk on privately owned harvest ranches, by providing high standards of ethical conduct to promote the responsible management of harvest ranches and to communicate these standards to consumers and the other key constituents.

Definition – Harvest Ranch
“Harvest Ranch” means a premises where farmed Elk are taken, released and sold to customers for the singular purpose of harvesting by firearm or archery.

Standards of Operation

The harvest ranch must be registered with the Board of Animal Health.
The harvest ranch should adhere to all the requirements, both state and federal, for regulating farmed Cervidae.
The individual harvest enclosures should contain not less than 2,000,000/sq.ft.
The harvest ranch should have areas of cover to provide for concealment sufficient to prevent the elk from being visible in all parts of the preserve at one time and would afford the chance of escape from pursuit.
The boundaries of a harvest ranch should be clearly posted in a manner prescribed by the Board of Animal Health. The operator should post signs around the entire perimeter of the harvest preserve at intervals not to exceed 500 feet.
All wild cervidae must be removed from the harvest ranch.
The harvest ranch operation should not bait or drug animals to make it easier for patrons to harvest the animals.
The method of harvest employed on the ranch should ensure that the animal is harvested in a responsible and efficient manner, and should take every precaution as is reasonable to ensure that the meat and by-products of any animal collected are fully utilized.
Harvest ranches should maintain records of names, addresses and telephone numbers of all patrons and the identification number, sex, age, and type of elk harvested by each patron. Such records should be maintained for a period of three years.
All advertising and promotional material provided by harvest ranches should convey an image consistent with the aims and objectives of the association. All promotional video and photography should responsibly display an efficient harvest and recovery of all animals.

Questions or comments e-mail: info@mneba.org

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