$6K reward offered after elk shot, left for dead at private farm

MONROE, Sevier County — A $6,000 reward was offered by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food after an elk was shot and left for dead at Valley View Elk Farm in Sevier County.

The farm's owners, Wren and Todd Gardner, discovered the elk while tending their animals on Thursday, according to Stuart Barney with the Utah Department of Agriculture Domestic Elk Program.

Initially, Todd Gardner thought the animal may have died from natural causes, according to Barney. He then discovered a bullet wound after examining the elk. The Sevier County Sheriff's Department came to examine the elk and found bullet fragments within the animal.

Barney said the animal was approximately 3 years old and still a juvenile. If the elk had grown to full size, Barney estimates it would have been worth between $10,000 and $17,000.

"These are good people that are relatively new in the elk business and raising elk," Barney said. He added that he had not heard of anyone shooting an elk on a private farm in at least seven years.

Wren Gardner reached out online to ask for help identifying who might have shot the elk, announcing that the Gardners and the state department would offer the $6,000 reward. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food will put up most of the reward money to solve the case, according to Barney.

"Whether this was an accident or on purpose, we need to know who did this," she wrote. "It's a small town and lots of people talk, and I just know someone out there knows something!"

Anyone with information regarding the alleged shooting is requested to reach out to the Sevier County Sheriff's Office, the Richfield Police Department or the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

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