elks96
Long Time Member
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So last year I was out coyote hunting at a time in between public seasons in an area I have hunted for years. It is a mix of public and private. Long story short I ended witnessing an outfitter illegally guiding and taking elk on public lands when it was in fact a private land only season. Luckily I had my camera, GPS, big spotting scope etc. I was able to document it all and call a local warden. Was able to show him where they were where the elk were at, etc. Of course the warden checked them out on the way in to meet me at the scene and they lied about where they were etc.
End result was they had taken 2 elk well onto public lands, lied to the officer. The outfitter had shot an elk himself and also had his 12 year old client from out of state shoot a cow elk. They actually transported both elk whole from the kill sight onto private land to process and more importantly away from my eyes.
Long story short. The first court date came and went. Then the guy was going to try and fight it. Eventually realizing he had no chance he worked a plea deal with the DA for some lesser charges.
I was happy as I was able to qualify for TIPS. I had my choice between a Cow elk tag for the unit or a Preference Point. That extra point catapulted from having a slight shot at a top elk unit into being able to draw for archery at least...
I was even more happy when I realized that this same outfitter had 3 times harassed me while hunting on public land stating that I was trespassing... All 3 times he was pissed because I out hunted him and his clients to elk on the public.
Needless to say I like the TIPS program for sure...
End result was they had taken 2 elk well onto public lands, lied to the officer. The outfitter had shot an elk himself and also had his 12 year old client from out of state shoot a cow elk. They actually transported both elk whole from the kill sight onto private land to process and more importantly away from my eyes.
Long story short. The first court date came and went. Then the guy was going to try and fight it. Eventually realizing he had no chance he worked a plea deal with the DA for some lesser charges.
I was happy as I was able to qualify for TIPS. I had my choice between a Cow elk tag for the unit or a Preference Point. That extra point catapulted from having a slight shot at a top elk unit into being able to draw for archery at least...
I was even more happy when I realized that this same outfitter had 3 times harassed me while hunting on public land stating that I was trespassing... All 3 times he was pissed because I out hunted him and his clients to elk on the public.
Needless to say I like the TIPS program for sure...