As part of a plea agreement, a man from Soda Springs, Idaho, received penalties for illegally killing and wasting a bull elk.
Bart Rhead pled guilty to two elk charges and various trapping violations. He received a lifetime hunting and trapping revocation, forfeited his rifle, received a sentence to pay $12,650, and was given a 90-day jail sentence (with 60 days suspended) and 120 hours of community service in lieu of time served.
In September 2017, a sportsman heard a gunshot and witnessed a large bull elk go over a ridge before dark.
The responding conservation officer watched as Rhead used a bulldozer to move the trophy bull elk to a location near Rhead’s property where he removed the antlers, ivory teeth and hide, and left the rest to waste.
Rhead later admitted to killing three other bull elk and a mule deer buck during a closed season.
Find more information here.
(Photo source: Idaho Department of Fish and Game)