Possible Poaching in enumclaw 3/4

[stormin85]

Just thought i would post and see if anyone had more info on this?

Took the kids to the park, and whenever we head home we will usually go the back way to Buckley so my boys and daughter can see the herd of domesticated elk that live on the farms off of Mud mt. rd. as we came to the bend near one of the farms there they were in the back field, as i pointed them out to my son, i noticed in the nearest field arrow fletchings sticking up out of the ground, at which point i realized this arrow was stuck broadside in a cow elk.

my wife then noticed it as well, there was a couple who were on a bike ride that were sitting there and another vehicle, the vehicle in front of us left and the couple rode their bicycles over to us, the husband said his wife had called the sheriff, i was in the process of calling wdfw, just to see how this was possible, which is where my first question comes, are there any depredation tags that could have been in use?

the husband informed me that the sheriff had said they contacted the wildlife officer for this area and they did not think this was done legally at all, since it was march.

i asked the husband and now wife who was with him if they had seen what happened, she said they pulled up and the "hunter" was out there trying to get his arrow out and they had tried to pull it out with a mini ex but couldn't.

as we were sitting there they opened the gate and headed towards the elk with an Ag tractor, so the husband and wife pulled over there and told the farmer and "hunter" in camo they had called the sheriff and he was on his way. at this point the farmer, i'm assuming, walked towards the couple and said he had contacted them as well and they could leave, then things started getting somewhat heated so i pulled up a bit so my kids didn't have to listen as i stopped a few f bombs were dropped and they were yelling at each other, i decided to stay there in case things got out of hand, fortunately at that point i recognized the wdfw pickup pull around the corner.

the farmer and "hunter" at this point had the elk near the barn and were starting to lift it up so they could skin it i figure, and i stopped and made sure the officer was there for that reason he said yes and was turning around to go and take care of it.

so my question is anyone know of depredation tags in march? why was the "hunter" (using this term loosely as these elk don't leave the two or three farms and are not spooked by anything) wearing camo and bowhunting if not for the fact he was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible? and would the farmer who was obvious allowing the hunter to hunt and attempting to defend the guy, if he was truly poaching, be facing any charges as well?

none the less pretty crazy to actually see all of this go down, i do understand if he was using a dep tag, it may be bow only and that could be a reason for that, however the camo thing throws me off, if you are from enumclaw Buckley or this area and know about these elk you know they are truly just like cattle.

i just hope if he was poaching everything is handle correctly, needless to say the bicyclists were irate and not hunters so this paints a very bad picture of hunters to non hunters in a time when any anti group will use whatever they can.

not saying this was or is their intent, (and i don't know if they were anti hunting or not) but you never know.

fortunately i had the opportunity to tell the couple that i hunted and was just as upset if he was really poaching as this was a bad example to anyone and had to explain to my daughter and son what was going on and why seeing an animal dead like this was different from seeing them when mom or dad are hunting.

any ways any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

[crow killer]

People these days

[rb2506]

I don't understand the difference in hunting ?  Because the hunter shot it on a farm and not in the wilderness?  Or that it might be a poaching case ?

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[h20hunter]

I would think poaching. If is a tag hunt and he whacked a farm elk good for him.

[stormin85]

I don't understand the difference in hunting ?  Because the hunter shot it on a farm and not in the wilderness?  Or that it might be a poaching case ?

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i was saying i don't think its truly hunting if he was poaching the elk. i don't care where anyone hunts it takes a skill even if they are on a farm, however, i use the term hunter loosely when it is in the off season and you have to break rules to do it, if thats what truly happened.

if he did have the tag, i fully support the dep hunts, and the elk can cost farmers money and ruin crops and property, i just hope it was done the correct way, which by the actions of the guys in the field and the officer i dont think it was.

[stormin85]

however like i said this could have been legal, i just wasn't aware if there were any seasons open through march, or if a landowner tag was being used. hopefully it was just didn't know if anyone would have info on how it works.

[rb2506]

I don't understand the difference in hunting ?  Because the hunter shot it on a farm and not in the wilderness?  Or that it might be a poaching case ?

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i was saying i don't think its truly hunting if he was poaching the elk. i don't care where anyone hunts it takes a skill even if they are on a farm, however, i use the term hunter loosely when it is in the off season and you have to break rules to do it, if thats what truly happened.

if he did have the tag, i fully support the dep hunts, and the elk can cost farmers money and ruin crops and property, i just hope it was done the correct way, which by the actions of the guys in the field and the officer i dont think it was.

Agreed

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[bigtex]

There are depredation tags for that area, unaware if any are there now.

Why does it matter if he is wearing camo? Anytime I am hunting I wear camo, doesn't matter if I am just walking roads for grouse/rabbit and obviously don't need it or deer hunting.

[JLS]

I wear camo to Wal Mart

[Boss .300 winmag]

 One thing you might want to take in consideration is that old school farmers see elk of this nature as no better than wolves, and would become very agitated by tree hugging do gooding by standers getting in there business even if this was on the up and up!
Crop damage is no joke to people who eek out a living of the land they own. 

[dreamunelk]

Check out page 59 in the regs.
Master Hunter tags.
Sounds like one of the R6 tags may have been used.

[stormin85]

i just found it funny that he was wearing camo to hunt these elk, as the rest of the herd was not spooked by him or the tractor and stood there about 40 yards away, nothing wrong with it, thats majority of what i wear everywhere, i just thought it was odd how the events played out. not trying to start an argument, was more curious of the tag situation.

[stormin85]

and that was answered just above me.

[Hawgdawg]

my backyard. Bow only. Not even crossbows allowed one of the few firearm restricted areas that don't alow it! Those elk are out of control. Bruce Richards...Fish and Feathers lives half a mile away and he has those elk named as pets!

[stormin85]

well i hope everything that happened was on one of the landowner tags, and sorry if i made it sound like it was not i just was surprised they ran this far into the beginning of the year, didn't know the dates went that long for them. i was just really thrown off seeing an elk down in march, but if its legit then good for the who got her, looked like a well placed shot.

hopefully people understand the oddness of the situation and that my intent was not to get whoever it was in trouble, if it were legal.