Behind the Badge
When Illegal Becomes too Illegal
District Game Warden Jonathan Tofteland
As wardens, we always appreciate honesty.
When someone turns themselves in for accidentally shooting a hen pheasant or shooting a buck with their doe tag when they didn’t see the antlers, we try and help them out if we can.
There was a case a few years ago that made that very difficult.
On a November afternoon I was on a normal day of patrol when I answered a phone call from some elk hunters.
They said that they had accidentally shot two elk.
The caller gave me directions of the location and I started to head that way.
While I was making my way there, different scenarios kept running through my head as to what could have happened and what might happen now.
Dealing with a once-in-a-lifetime animal is slightly more significant than an extra fish or grouse.
I appreciated them calling and knowing they had made a mistake.
The reporting party was a dad in his 70s and his two sons in their 40s.
One son started to tell me the story that their dad had a cow elk tag and was dealing with some health issues that were making it very hard to walk so the two sons were helping him get his elk.
The son stopped talking and looked at his brother and asked if he wanted to say the rest.
The other brother looked down and said, “I shot them.” He told me that he was hunting the elk for his dad who couldn’t walk out to where the elk were.
He stood near a bale that was along a vehicle trail going into a hayed meadow.
He waited there for the elk to come into the opening.
The other brother walked around the outside and came through the trees where he thought the elk were.
The elk ran into the open meadow toward the first brother waiting by the bale.
He picked out the front running cow elk and took a shot.
He didn’t see the elk fall or anything laying on the ground.
He thought he had missed.
He looked for another shot on the herd of elk, picked out another cow that was by itself and took another shot.
He watched that elk fall and knew he had gotten it.
While he was walking up to that one, he walked over a little hump and found the first one he had shot was lying dead right where he shot it.
This was when they decided to call me.
There is always pressure to get an animal when it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
However, the person that had the tag wasn’t even able to take part in the hunt.
He was sitting in the pickup and never saw a single elk.
When someone gets a tag, they get a chance to experience a hunt and memories that could last a lifetime.
There are options for people that can’t get out and walk due to health reasons.
The dad could have gotten a permit to drive off trail and shoot out of the vehicle.
Where the son had shot from, a vehicle could have been parked there.
The case was difficult because they tried to do the right thing by calling themselves in when they shot two elk.
The problem was they started the hunt out illegally when the son had a gun and planned on harvesting his dad’s elk when his dad was not there to witness the actual hunt.
The son who shot the elk was charged for shooting both elk and hunting big game without a license.
They were all very remorseful of the situation and helped with field dressing both elk which were donated to Hunters for the Hungry.