State Department of Fish and Wildlife officers are searching for the person who shot a bull elk from a roadway or private property and left it for dead near Lake Kapowsin over the weekend, a department officer said Monday.
The animal, an estimated 400-pounder with a 16-point rack, was shot and killed Sunday morning by a Fish and Wildlife officer, Sgt. Ted Jackson said.
Officers responded to an area near North Twin Lake and South Twin Lake ? located west of Lake Kapowsin ? after they received a phone call about a wounded elk about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, he said. The officers attempted to track the elk, but night fell, and the animal swam into one of the lakes.
One of the officers returned Sunday morning, located the animal and shot it, Jackson said. The elk ran back into the water, but the officer retrieved it with the help of volunteers and Puyallup tribal police, he said. It had been wounded by a single shot in one of its front legs.
Investigators think the animal was shot from either Benbow Drive East or on land held by the Puyallup Tribe or private land owners. Shooting from a roadway is illegal, the tribe doesn't allow hunting on the land and none of the land owners interviewed have said they gave permission for anyone to hunt on their land, Jackson said.
It is also illegal to kill an elk and not claim it, he said.
Witnesses told officers they saw two men driving a white pickup truck in the area Saturday about the time of the shooting, he said.
Anyone with information about the incident should call the state?s poaching hotline at 360-902-2936
The animal, an estimated 400-pounder with a 16-point rack, was shot and killed Sunday morning by a Fish and Wildlife officer, Sgt. Ted Jackson said.
Officers responded to an area near North Twin Lake and South Twin Lake ? located west of Lake Kapowsin ? after they received a phone call about a wounded elk about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, he said. The officers attempted to track the elk, but night fell, and the animal swam into one of the lakes.
One of the officers returned Sunday morning, located the animal and shot it, Jackson said. The elk ran back into the water, but the officer retrieved it with the help of volunteers and Puyallup tribal police, he said. It had been wounded by a single shot in one of its front legs.
Investigators think the animal was shot from either Benbow Drive East or on land held by the Puyallup Tribe or private land owners. Shooting from a roadway is illegal, the tribe doesn't allow hunting on the land and none of the land owners interviewed have said they gave permission for anyone to hunt on their land, Jackson said.
It is also illegal to kill an elk and not claim it, he said.
Witnesses told officers they saw two men driving a white pickup truck in the area Saturday about the time of the shooting, he said.
Anyone with information about the incident should call the state?s poaching hotline at 360-902-2936
