MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A three-year hunting reprieve for the struggling moose population in Minnesota has ended with the planned shooting of 38 bulls by three Chippewa tribes.

The Star Tribune reports that the targeting of moose ends a three-year period when state and tribal game managers stopped moose hunting because of an alarming population decline in Minnesota's Arrowhead region.

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa members have already killed 25 of the moose in a legal hunt that went against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' wishes.

Department officials say it still isn't appropriate to hunt moose, while state and tribal game managers have said it won't threaten the state's herd.

The state now is negotiating with the Bois Forte and Grand Portage bands for significantly smaller, ceremonial hunts expected to occur before the end of the year.

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