The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is seeking information on a cow elk that someone poached and partially left to waste in Elk Hunt Area 40 east of Lovell in the northernmost part of the state.
Lovell Game Warden Dillon Herman began an investigation after receiving a report from the Stop Poaching Hotline Monday, Dec. 10. Upon investigation, he found evidence that a cow elk was shot and killed just below the last runaway truck ramp on Highway 14A near mile marker 70. Some of the meat, including both front quarters and one hind quarter, was removed from the carcass, and then the carcass was dragged down the highway by a vehicle for 2.5 miles before being discarded. The carcass and remaining edible portions including the tenderloins, most of the backstraps and a rear quarter were thrown over a guardrail and abandoned.
Herman believes the elk was illegally killed sometime last week, after the elk season closed Nov. 30.
“Wasting any edible portion of a game animal is not only unlawful, it is unethical,” Herman said. “I cannot imagine any scenario where dragging an elk down the highway is justified. This situation is an unusual and shocking act of disrespect towards wildlife and law-abiding hunters.”
If you have any information, call 307-548-7310 or 307-527-7125 or the Stop Poaching Hotline at 1-877-WGFD-TIP (1-877-943-3847).
(Photo source: Wyoming Department of Game and Fish)