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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Missing Elk

We think this guy may be gone.  He had been hanging around for weeks and we would see or hear him on a daily basis. Ne never strayed over 3/4's of a mile from here.    Last Sunday we heard a vehicle going down our road who we assumed may be poachers.  Camouflaged vehicle driving very slow and quiet which appeared to be suspicious.   Our road runs parallel to another road just down from us by 3-400 yards.  We heard some weird elk bugles coming from between our road and the next one down that morning. they did not sound natural and were just out of sight of our house but directly between the two roads.  Then at 10:15 that morning the above mentioned camouflaged vehicle came down our road, turned around a few hundred yards past our house and parked.  The two occupants went across our friends private property up the mountain like they were looking for something.  I called 911 and the sheriff responded quickly.  The Game Warden was unable to respond as he was in a meeting.  The Sheriff Deputy found the vehicle didn't have any tag's on it, and nothing to identify it.  
He couldn't wait for the prior occupants to come out of the woods so he left having taken photo's of the vehicle (Army type).  Asked me to let him know when it left and he would head back out our way to head them off. 
I called him back but he didn't head them off as I suspect it is being kept within our community and never leaves the Park. I was told he couldn't arrest them anyway due to fear of a lawsuit even though he knew they were up to no good.  It it turned out they had permission to cross the property and he arrested them the Sheriff Department  would be sued.  I gave him our neighbors phone number to call to verify they did not have permission to be on or cross their property.  
We have not heard the above elk bugle since and we guess that it may have been wounded, ran up the mountain and they came up to our road to try to track it down.  This isn't the only time we have seen a trophy bull elk mysteriously vanish.  To catch these brazen poachers is a real problem.  If you catch them while waiting for the game warden to get out of his meeting or come from the other side of the county and end up shooting them it would be us that go to jail.  In reality it appears that poachers have the edge and will probably get away with their illegal activities for a very long while. We have security to prevent poaching that are rent a cops but when I called their number I got an answering machine.  No help there as they were not available either.   I think it is tragic that this elk suddenly disappeared having been around every day for several continuous weeks.  Sometimes it is not a just world we live in and proves that illegal activity or crime does pay, especially when the risk of getting caught is so minimal.  

7 comments:

Barbara J. Galasso said...

I hate stories like this one because it once again proves that animals are just here for man's taking and pleasure for them to do whatever it is that they want to do with them! Something so regal and magnificent looking like this animal should never be adorning some "shoot crazy" macho mans wall in his hunter's lodge! We're suppose to share the planet....not rearrange it to suit our egos!

Bruce said...

I agree with what you say Barbara but I think a distinction needs to be made between honest hunters who follow all the laws, hunt game within the rules,take only legal game, buy a license which helps the other animals, follow all laws, and hunt during proper times and within the rules.
Then there is the poacher who baits game, make their own rules, break laws that decent people follow and thumb their noses at the same laws that others willingly comply with. They don't contribute anything to protect and preserve wildlife. If caught they will likely try to kill the wildlife officer or those who stand in their way. They have no morals or rules.
They hunt animals at places the animals feel safe from hunting, and employ any illegal means to kill unsuspecting animals that others can't get near to or have a chance to get legally. They steal dogs to run game to them so they can shoot the animals and then abandon the dogs. They use high powered lights to blind animals at night and shoot the helpless animal. They only get away with it when good people remain silent and are subjective to their threats. They are the lowest form of human life and need to be reported - assuming you can encourage the legal authorities to make a sincere effort to catch them.
Most hunters go years to get a bull elk legally. They bait them in where the animals feel safe and shoot them at will. They are a sorry lot of humanity.

Patricia said...

Is there a special place in hell for these creeps? I hope so. They make me sick.

Anonymous said...

Just for future reference... there are lots of harmless ways to incapacitate a vehicle long enough to allow the sheriff time to show up. Just saying....

Raylene said...

This sickens my heart….suppose it is a huge ego trip to be responsible for killing this life

Anonymous said...

A 12 gauge slug will ruin a poacher's radiator, and maybe the creeps won't come back to your area. It's a long walk to town from up here. I'm considering this trek for a wood poacher who destroys ancient pinon pines on other people's property a bit lower than us up here. They steal large limbs from old trees or just cut the tree three feet from the ground because pinon sells for top dollar up here. Elk and mule deer poachers are just as bad, and 'authorities' up here in southern Colorado say they don't have the resources to deal with them. Of course, they don't mention that they might just be related to them. I focus my 3,000,000 candle power light on them at dawn when they stop across the creek from my house, or fire bird shot into the air, to let them know others are around and watching. They always leave. Disabling a vehicle might be the answer. I hate to admit that I actually consider what might otherwise be thought of as vandalism, but these thieves are not being stopped by law enforcement. While I haven't resorted to it yet, I am considering it an option.

Bruce said...

Anonymous: You may be right with respect to vandalism is a last resort. The game warden didn't even respond because he was in a "meeting". The Sheriff should have had the vehicle towed since it had no tag on it and the VIN was not registered in Colorado. I offered to have an investigator friend of mine who works for the Dept. of Justice in Denver run the tag to see if it was stolen from a military installation and the Sheriff was not interested in checking that far. Seems that authorities are not that interested in catching poachers. A tire lock could have been used too. All too suspicious. Sometimes self help is the only help.