Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) in partnership with Operation Game Thief, now offers a $4,000 cash award as efforts continue to seek the public’s help to identify those responsible for poaching and abandoning carcasses of four large bull elk on four separate ranches in Las Animas County. The elk were illegally shot Sept. 13, 26 and 27 near the communities of Stonewall and Picketwire.
The Incident
Of the four bull elk poached, one was shot and abandoned whole; one was wounded and had to be put down; another was shot with only the backstraps removed; the fourth had its head removed with no meat taken.
The Reward
The reward is being offered for tips that lead to a citation or an arrest. Anyone willing to testify about information they provided leading to the filing of charges would also be eligible for a preference point or hunting license.
“These were senseless and disgraceful acts not only to the sportspersons community, but they also took valuable resources away from every Coloradoan demonstrating a complete disregard for Colorado wildlife,” said Jim Hawkins, CPW Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement and Operation Game Thief coordinator.
“We are using every investigation technique available to us to find out who is responsible,” said Hawkins. ”We invite anyone who may have information about these crimes to step forward; the public is welcome to do so with full anonymity”
Contact Information
Information may be provided anonymously through Operation Game Thief at 1-877-265-6648 or by email to [email protected].
3 comments
That is a disgraceful act. I hope the scum that did this is caught and receives substantial punishment in the form of fines an incarceration.
Anyone involved in this disgraceful act should lose all hunting privileges in all 50 states for life. As well as all weapons taken and sold and given back to the state for wildlife funding. Also what ever transportation used should also be sold and all moneys given to the state for helping wildlife.
Up that reward to $10,000+ and you’ll get one of his friends to rat him out. Certainly, those bulls were worth far more than that to Colorado’s sportsmen.