# Two Trophy Elk Wasted



## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

Now I know that this isn't the entire DWR's fault but what I am about to tell you all is just wrong. A very close friend of the family, after 17 years of applying for the Manti Central unit finally drew for this years hunt. Our friend puts in the work, scouts a bunch of times, and finds the area he wants to hunt. Opening morning he, his brother, his son, and son in-law are hunting the area they had decided to hunt. He passes on some smaller bulls and then across a draw spots a real nice 6x6 going up the other side. He heads down the draw and starts up the other side. Shortly he spots the 6 point about 200 yds away and squeezes one off. The bull doesn't run off, it just goes into the quakies. My friend is looking through the quakies when he spots the 6 point hobbling, and obviously wounded. He takes another shot, and the animal goes down. He radios back to his party that he got him and he asked them to guide him to the trees he went into. He started the hike, and went in where his party told him to go in, and there was his 6 point bull. He radio'd to his party and they came over. 

Shortly after getting there, two other hunters came over and said that he shot two bulls. He said that he didn't and that what they saw was that he had shot the bull, it went into the trees then came out wounded and he put him down. They said they were certain he shot two elk and he said that he hadn't. So, the hunters went away. Well, just as he was getting ready to start packing out the bull, a DWR officer comes over and says that they received a report that he had shot two elk. Our friend told him the same thing, but that he would be more than happy to look for another animal. Well, to his surprise, not 70 yards from his bull, lay another 6 point trophy bull. Apparantly, his first shot went clean through the elk, and hit the other 6 point which he did not even see. The first bull went into the trees and died, and what my friend saw was the second 6 point bull come out wounded so he shot him. I probably would have done the same thing, because I would have been thinking I only wounded the animal. 

The DWR officer said that he understood it was an accident and that what would probably happen is he would get his elk back, but would have a fine. So, our friend helped the officer process both elk, and pack them out, and awaited his fate. And just so you know, the officer scored both elk there, the first one he shot scored just over 360, and the second one 355. 

Well, today I was speaking to my father and he told me that our friend did get his elk back, with a $1,000.00 fine. But, unfortunately, after all of the care that he and the officer took of processing the meat, he only got back the two front shoulders because all of the other meat had rotted. Also, the cape on his elk had rotted so now he has to buy a new cape. So he is pretty pissed off since he understood that even though it was an accident, it is always the responsibility of the hunter to know what is beyond your target, and so he was not upset at all with how they handled the case and was expecting the fine. What he was not expecting was that his entire elk was wasted, as was the other elk. Now how wrong is that?


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## izzydog (Jan 18, 2008)

Too bad for me that there are 2 less elk for me to hunt in November down there. I do know that co's try their best but a lot of them don't even know the laws they are trying to enforce and instead of being rational about things they have to let you know how mighty they are and if you don't kiss their feet it can just get ugly.


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## blazingsaddle (Mar 11, 2008)

I do not like to hear of wasted meat and thats unfortunate it happened that way, but.............
I'll be the first to say it, 
................................what happened to be sure of you taget before shooting? How could one not see the other elk, granted I was not in his shoes, but come on? 
As harsh as it seems- two bulls were wasted (as you put it) by the shooter.
Theres my rant, maybe its just a bad day?


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## sagebrush (Sep 8, 2007)

I find this kinda hard to believe that he did not see the other elk behind the other one. come on the antlers had to be a give away. and to have a bullet pass through one and into the other one both animals would have to have been pretty close to each other.


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## uthntr (Feb 19, 2008)

sagebrush said:


> I find this kinda hard to believe that he did not see the other elk behind the other one. come on the antlers had to be a give away. and to have a bullet pass through one and into the other one both animals would have to have been pretty close to each other.


You werent there dont judge.


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## TAK (Sep 9, 2007)

I know about this and really nothing different could have been done on the law side of it. Two Elk were killed. The CO does not make up the fine amount it is the courts. The "Hunter" was found to be in the wrong, but not as bad as it could have been. I think it was a class B instead of a 3rd degree felony.
Knowing all the parties involved it was just a bad deal all the way around and it could happen to anyone!


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## idiot with a bow (Sep 10, 2007)

It's not impossible for a hunter to not see every elk in the area. He was 200 yards away. We don't know the angle he was on either, the other elk could have been pretty far away. I know that I have spooked a 'lone' buck only to see all of his friends run off with him. My question is how after the shot he didn't see the other elk take off?


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## sagebrush (Sep 8, 2007)

uthntr said:


> sagebrush said:
> 
> 
> > I find this kinda hard to believe that he did not see the other elk behind the other one. come on the antlers had to be a give away. and to have a bullet pass through one and into the other one both animals would have to have been pretty close to each other.
> ...


I'll be the judge of that.


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## TAK (Sep 9, 2007)

Point is the "Hunter" did not try to hide this, did not deny anything. He was amazed of the discovery. Like said it was a bad deal for everyone involved and maybe it could have been avoided, maybe not? I know of many times bullets going through one animal and hitting or killing the other...

Matter of fact do some research and look up "Utah new Annie Oakley".... Years and years ago my aunt shot two buck with one shot. One through the chest and the other right in the grape. The one in the grape was laying down behind the other buck! Ya both were in the 30 inch class....
Look around the 1950's or so.... I will try to find you the article...... Ohh ya back then I think you could kill all the deer you could eat....


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## COOPERD (Sep 16, 2007)

Accidents happen,I couldnt imagine this guys thoughts when he saw both dead bulls, but I could imagine it was something like WTF?


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## suave300 (Sep 11, 2007)

He sounds like an honorable guy. Its just a bummer that an accident happened like that. It's too hard to judge unless we could see the situation. So I won't. But man, what a bummer!


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## utahcoyote (Oct 8, 2008)

Point is this hunter messed up, he took a shot he should not have. You have to know what is behind your intended target. It sucks but this guy should have been fined a lot more, lost his hunting rights, and not received anything back.


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## blackbear (Oct 18, 2007)

Wheres the pics? I wanna see the elk with the supposed 2 entry wounds. Not just hear that it was stumbling around. I suppose in the heat of the 'buck fever' everything was stumbling around for the shooter. Good lesson for all of us though, never assume the animal running out of the trees is the one you shot.


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## muley_crazy (Sep 7, 2007)

sagebrush said:


> I find this kinda hard to believe that he did not see the other elk behind the other one. come on the antlers had to be a give away. and to have a bullet pass through one and into the other one both animals would have to have been pretty close to each other.


+1


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## RTMC (Sep 10, 2007)

utahcoyote said:


> Point is this hunter messed up, he took a shot he should not have. You have to know what is behind your intended target. It sucks but this guy should have been fined a lot more, lost his hunting rights, and not received anything back.


You have got to be kidding me!


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## Wdycle (Sep 11, 2007)

muley_crazy said:


> sagebrush said:
> 
> 
> > I find this kinda hard to believe that he did not see the other elk behind the other one. come on the antlers had to be a give away. and to have a bullet pass through one and into the other one both animals would have to have been pretty close to each other.
> ...


 +2 It's still a shame that it was mostly wasted.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

The two bulls could not have been together when he shot...they were moving and there is no way he would not have seen both. 
Bull two was probably already in the quakies (maybe already wounded from some other hunter) when he shot bull one. Bull two runs out the other side of the quakies and bamm, down he goes. 
The ticket had to be writen, BUT I ask, and be honest here, who among you would not have done the same?
I am not even sure what lesson can be learned from this...are we supposed to only make one shot and then check for a kill? The man never saw or even imagined that there was another elk near by. 
A tragic story. I feel for the hunter and feel anger that the meat was not cared for properly by the DWR people.


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## elkfromabove (Apr 20, 2008)

The hunter received a citation and fine for killing two elk, so who received the citation and fine for the wasting of wildlife? Say what?? I guess rank has it's priviledges.


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## Greenhead 2 (Sep 13, 2007)

If he had only been hunting with a bow this wouldn't have happened 8)


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm thinking there's more to the story. It was an accident. But it would be interesting to know where the first bull was hit.

As for the meat being wasted, there's definitely more to that story. SOP for the DWR would have been to offer the confiscated bull and a voucher to the hunters who called them. I wouldn't doubt that the cape was wasted...it costs money to deal with that. But there's no reason why they would have just let the meat rot.


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## BugleB (Sep 24, 2008)

If you had let the meat rot, you would be fined for that, but it is okay if the DWR does it?
I know a guy that shot two six point bulls a couple of years ago. He hit one and it ran off. A few minutes later he saw a six point where the first one had run to and dropped it. He called the fish cops and confessed his mistake. They let him have his choice of the two bulls and took the other one. No fine and no hassles. I would say he lucked out. Most fish cops would have hit him with the biggest citation possible and he was pretty brave to put himself at their mercy, but in this case, it ended well for him.


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## grunt_smacker (Sep 7, 2007)

We talked to a few hunters this past week while out hunting that ran across 2 different big bulls that had been shot and left laying. Possibly because they were not as big as the shooter wanted, or maybe they were never able to find them.
Anyways this hunter told us he was reluctant but in the end talked to the Fish and game officer in the area about his finding the big bulls shot and left laying.
He told us the officer said "Ohh well, that kind of thing happens all the time."
And then the officer just turned around and drove off.
This hunter was dumbfounded by the Officers responce, and even more confused when the Officer just drove off without asking any more details.

What is the point of reporting things like this, if nothing happens?

How many people are affraid of reporting a find like this in fear that they will be treated like they were the one who broke the law?


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## Bucksnbulls08 (Sep 18, 2008)

Seems to me that there is a strong likelyhood that bull #2 may have been wounded from a previous incident and spooked out of the trees during all the comotion. If the hunter had not seen bull #2 in the trees, it would seem obvious that the bull stumbling out of the trees would be the one he just shot. Possibly the blame should be on someone else that had shot at and hit bull #2 and did not do a good follow-up. Don't know all the details but I think I would have requested additional research before rolling over for a fine and points against my record.


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## Ironman (Sep 7, 2007)

This issue that is troubling in many of these posts is the obvious discrepancy between the actions of differing CO's under similar circumstances. That is one of the main reasons I think why "fish cops" have a bad name in this state, you never know if your going to get an understanding guy who says "that's rough, choose the one you want" and lets it go, or the one that says "who cares?, it happens all the time", or the one that says "well, we'll have to take your gun and pickup" you might get a fine or jail time as well." SSS.


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## BugleB (Sep 24, 2008)

I have been thinking about it and decided that the guy who got nailed with the $1,000 fine is because he got turned in by another hunter, and the DWR had to raise money to pay the reward. The reason my neighbor didn't get fined is because he turned himself in and there was no need to raise reward money. I still think he was a brave man. Most hunters would have taken one elk and run as fast as he could before trusting a DWR officer to give him any mercy.


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## outdoorsisfreedom (Dec 1, 2008)

I have to admitt, I am pretty surprised that the hunter who shot two elk and turned himself in got off so easy. I am willing to bet that it wasn't in utah. I have hunted for many years and if anyone is able to say,... "how could he not have seen the other bull, or he should have known better, or you need to check you back drop before you shoot", or anything else for that matter had better knock on wood before the judge does. I know that everyone has made a mistake and felt like an "Idiot" I think that the most important thing is weather or not the hunter did it on purpose. Shot two elk. I also feel that if the meat was really wasted than the DWR has some answering to do.

I understand I have a strong opinion I do not apologize however


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## Huntoholic (Sep 17, 2008)

I was going to say "I personally don't care", but I do care. People who make a mistake and own up should not be treated the same as the person who walks away or poaches. That is why the courts can define the penalty. Sorry but if you are going to treat everybody as a poacher, then there is no reason to be honest.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

Sorry...I ain't buying any of the sympathy. The fact is that the guy shot two bulls and only had a tag for one. I would love to hear the other side of this story...my bet is that it is much different.

I would also have to say that a $1,000 fine is peanuts compared to what some pay for bulls that big. Comparing this guy's actions--or alleged actions--to a poacher is not right; however, his punishment doesn't compare to that of a poacher either. He got off easy....


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

What a genius...schedule an optometrist appointment already...


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## Huntoholic (Sep 17, 2008)

wyoming2utah said:


> Sorry...I ain't buying any of the sympathy. The fact is that the guy shot two bulls and only had a tag for one. I would love to hear the other side of this story...my bet is that it is much different.
> 
> I would also have to say that a $1,000 fine is peanuts compared to what some pay for bulls that big. Comparing this guy's actions--or alleged actions--to a poacher is not right; however, his punishment doesn't compare to that of a poacher either. He got off easy....


Coming on here with a issue like this is hard. Unless you know all the facts (both sides), it would and should be hard to pass judgement. That is the duty of the judge. I posted my previous comment because I have seen both sides. A judge that past a sentence that fit the crime and one who did not. The judge who past a harsh sentence (even the DWR officer had to pulled off the ceiling) did cause more damage in my family then he will know (I have one brother who will never report a wildlife violation). On this issue I will respect the decision of the court and hope that the sentence was just.

By the way, neither of these two cases involved me personally (in the family though).


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## outdoorsisfreedom (Dec 1, 2008)

This kind of thing happens more than we know. Poachers cower off and honest hunters pay the fines. Shooting two elk is not legal, and if you do it on purpose than you are a poacher and need to be caught and taken care of. If it is an accident should you be fined? should you have to pack both elk out and not get the meat because it was wasted? The only thing he should have got was a Warning and maybe a bill for another elk tag to cover the 2nd elk that was shot. 1000 dollar fine is for someone that was caught doing it on purpose. It certainly isn't for someone who did it unknowingly.


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