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JUAB COUNTY — Two Juab County men have pleaded guilty in connection to poaching a trophy bull elk, according to Division of Wildlife Resources officials.
The poaching incident occurred Oct. 8 in the Levan area of Juab County, according to a DWR news release. An anonymous caller contacted DWR officers and reported that a trophy bull elk had been illegally shot that day.
DWR officers began investigating and discovered evidence that led them to believe the elk had been shot on the limited-entry elk Central Mountains-Nebo unit and was moved to the Fillmore, Oak Creek any-bull-elk unit. The elk’s head, antlers and meat were harvested and the remainder of the carcass was left on the Fillmore, Oak Creek unit, the news release said.
DWR officers linked the shooting to two brothers and after questioning one of the men, discovered he had a general season any-bull-elk permit. The men “eventually admitted the elk was killed in the limited-entry unit and then transported to the any-bull-elk unit, in an attempt to make the elk appear to be a legal harvest,” a DWR statement said.
The men were charged in connection with wanton destruction of protected wildlife and other violations. However, some of the charges were dismissed on Nov. 18 in exchange for their guilty pleas, the DWR said. Each man received a $1,943 fine for the illegal shooting and a collective fine of $8,000 in restitution to the Utah Help Stop Poaching Fund. The men will also serve 36 months probation.
