Poacher has my 5x5 elk

[billythekidrock]

I don't believe it would be hard to prove (sp. proving) in court. I think they should throw the book at jerks like this.

If they can prove I ran a stop sign based upon words; they can prove some jerk is wasting animals.

I agree! Esp if they can prove that he knew it was illegal. He had a tag and knew better. Make him notch his tag or fine his butt!

[Antlershed]

Good to hear you got your horns back. Also good to hear you consider your season over. While up Grouse hunting, I heard of one guy who hit two elk in one day (both lost). He was hunting with a rep from a very well known bow company, and their attitude seemed to be that of "move on to the next one".

I keep going back and forth on what should be done to the kid. Yeah, he is a jerk for not giving you your horns back. Is it illegal to cut a rack off a dead rotting elk? Yes. How many others would have cut them off if found? I think quite a few without using their tag. Perhaps it is a different case since it is during the season vs something like a winter kill. If the meat was still good when the kid found it, then that opens up another set of issues. Irregardless, he should have given them back to you the first time, when you approached him and asked for them.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Sorry man. But things like this shows people like this that it is o.k. for them to do it. We have rules and laws that we must live by for people to get along in life.
I have broken rules and laws. And fortunatly for me i was young and dumb and not stupid enough to get caught, well there was this one time. And one time i did something stupid and got caught i served my restitution. I shot a forest sign when i was 16 and got caught... 24 hours community service and 100 dllar fine, that was 15 years ago, and i learned from that mistake.
Obviously this kid knew the rules. He should have learned from this mistake and what he learned was that it is o.k. to waste an animal...

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Oh yeah, i am glad you got your antlers...

[huntingnut]

No it's not legal, but if someone wants to take a animal, part or whole, that someone else shot they should have to forfeit their tag and the animal.

[bearhunter59]

Well, I guess my very first posting on this board will be on this topic.

On page 69 of this years game regs, I spot about 7 violations that punk could have been ticketed for....
Tagging and Transporting,
Section 2. Transporting wildlife - You must transport any big game animal with the proper tag attached.
Possession and Use of Wildlife
1. Transporting game or portions of meat taken by somebody else - If you transport or possess wildlife (or parts) killed by someone else, you must possess a written statement showing the name, address, license, permit or tag number, the number and kind of animal provided, the date killed, count, and area it was taken in, and the hunter's signature.
2. Waste of Wildlife - You may NOT allow game animals or game birds you have taken to recklessly be wasted.
4. Wildlife found dead - You may remove and dispose of wildlife found dead on your property or an adjoining public roadway, but you must first notify WDFW.  Dead wildlife can only be removed for disposal, not for personal use or consumption.
5. Possession of Antlers - It is legal to possess naturally shed antlers of deer, elk, and moose.
6. Stolen wildlife - Lawfully-tagged wildlife is personal property.  Theft of wildlife should be reported to local law enforcement.
Definitely enough there to get that punks hunting and fishing license revoked for a few years.

[Bigshooter]

It sounds to me that the only things this kid did wrong was not call the game department. 
And cut the head off.
Its not poaching, and if it was not tagged then it was not stealing.  If I would of found it and had no idea how long it had been dead I would have cut the head off and threw it with the rest of my horns.

[ICEMAN]

If the kid went looking 2 months later and brought the antlers home, no one here would have a problem with doing so.  No one here would want someone to tag a rotted or decayed animal. I have found complete carcass's's's' and have brought back the skull with antlers, and have never felt bad about it. I think the reason so many of us are angry is cause the kid knew of it, found it, and lied about it. Not that he brought the rack home. We would all have brought the rack home, if found way later. I bet we all would have called Longtatlaw and let him know of the find, and taken him to it.

[Machias]

Nice phtos LongTatLaw, escpecially the bottom one   Dang that kid's grown a heck of a set of horns, LOL  Reading your post above about the whole deal, you did just fine.  I like the fact you kept looking for him.  Good luck on finding a decent cape.

[boneaddict]

Congrats on getting YOUR antlers.  Nice job on your first bull.  Score really doesn't matter in regards to how you feel about how you measure a trophy.  He is probably in the 160-180 range. Here is a copy of the pope and young form so you can play.  I can e-mail you a copy and the insructions as well if you would like.

[boneaddict]

[pacyew]

Good on you, longtatlaw, for your persistence in locating and claiming your elk. Sad about not being able to find it right away, but sometimes this happens. You took the responsibility for your animal and saw it through!IMHO, you can't do better than that!

[jackelope]

this is shaping up to be a 5 pager...
the list of possible things to call this or the poacher or the hunter or the elk is endless.

 

[GoldTip]

LongTat, congrats on getting your horns back and also being gentleman enough to get the game warden to cut the kid a break even after he proved to you to be an a$$hole.  Your absolutely right in that the worst part of this story is the meat got wasted.  But hopefully the kid learned a lesson through this and will not do something like this again.  I would agree with Boneaddicts asessment of the score on that bull, he'll go around 160-170ish.  Damn nice bull and Congrats again.

[bearhunter59]

This thread just makes it crystal-clear again that our F&G wardens are useless.  I have been harassed beyond belief by game wardens for not notching my tag completely, (left a tiny piece of paper in the "V" of the notch), to not having the barbs on a hook pinched down "completely" while out fishing, yet you get some punk like this, who has obviously violated numerous regulations, and you and the gamey wanna let the kid walk, cuz he probably learned his lesson???  He didn't learn anything except he can get away with doing this kind of crap.  The game warden should have cuffed him, hauled him off and confiscated any vehicle that he used to move/transport the head and animal.  Then the little #$^$ would have learned a lesson.  Then this whole episode would have had enough impact on him and his worthless friends that they wouldn't even think about touching a dead game animal that they know isn't theirs.

Whole things shows the clear lack of respect, morals and ethics that young people these days are not taught....