Couple opened fire on fleeing elk herd, leaving five to rot, Oregon officials say

As an elk herd of about 100 was fleeing in open ground in Oregon, witnesses say they saw a car leave the road to travel through sagebrush to pursue them, according to wildlife officials.

The driver stopped the car twice and fired dozens of shots in Harney County, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement last Thursday, July 14.

The car’s occupants, however, did not collect all the elk they shot on Dec. 11, officials said. Instead, they tagged two cow elk to take, and left five elk, including two calves, two cows and a spike bull, to rot.

Now, a couple from Hines has been sentenced to jail time, fines and suspended hunting licenses, officials said.

Brian Wolfer, ODFW’s big game program manager, said there were “so many facets of wrongdoing in this case.”

“These people acted in blatant disregard for the elk, hunting laws and basic hunting ethics,” Wolfer said in the release. “To chase the elk with a vehicle and then leave five elk to waste because they didn’t check to see what they may have hit is almost unbelievable.”

Duane Dungannon, state coordinator and magazine editor for the Oregon Hunters Association, echoed the sentiment, stating it’s a terrible shame to see the elk “needlessly wasted like this.”

“Any ethical and responsible hunter knows that you only shoot at one animal, and then follow up on that animal. It’s not a video game,” Dungannon said in the release.

Troopers from the department gathered evidence that confirmed a car traveled about 300 yards in sagebrush, stopped to shoot into the herd and continued pursuing the animals, officials said. The car traveled 400 more yards and stopped again to shoot into the herd. After loading two cow elk into the car, they left.

“All five elk had been left to waste and the meat was not salvageable,” officials said.

When troopers confronted the husband about the elk that were shot and left to waste during a traffic violation stop, he told them no one in his party searched for the animals “because no one in his party had time,” according to officials.

The husband was “convicted of taking bull elk out of season,” as well as “exceeding the bag limit of elk,” officials said. The wife pleaded guilty to aiding/counseling in a game violation.

As part of the couple’s sentence, officials said, the husband must write an apology letter to be published in the Burns Times-Herald. To regain hunting rights after a three-year suspension period, the couple will have to take “hunter education courses.”

The husband was sentenced to “six days in jail, 18 months of bench probation and he is prohibited from participating in any hunting activities, including as an observer or mentor, for three years,” officials said.

The couple must also pay $2,500 in fees and restitution, according to officials

“Each hunter is responsible for every round they fire,” ODFW’s Sgt. Erich Timko said in a release. “And hunters have a responsibility to make a reasonable effort to track and retrieve potentially wounded wildlife. This is a prime example of when that is not done.”

Harney County is about 300 miles southeast of Eugene.

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