(Courtesy Anna Tollfeldt)
A Wrangell hunting nonprofit is offering $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever illegally killed and abandoned a cow moose. The illegal kill was found on Wrangell Island in late September.
Mid-September marks an exodus from Wrangell, as hunters head up the Stikine River or out the logging roads with hunt tags in hopes of bagging a moose.
The moose hunt in Game Unit 3, which includes the areas around Wrangell, Petersburg, and Kake, isn’t a trophy hunt. The moose in the area aren’t the giants of up north, but the hunt provides hundreds of pounds of subsistence meat for families in town.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game says around 10% of moose harvested in Southeast’s fall hunt each year are illegal, but most of those are sub-legal males with antler configurations that don’t match the requirements. It’s less common for someone to kill and abandon a cow moose, or female moose. Plus, it’s illegal in most areas of the state to kill a cow, except during targeted hunts.
But some time in late September, a hunter killed a cow moose in a muskeg about 15 miles south of town and abandoned the animal to rot.
The moose was found by a hiker, who noticed bird activity and a strong smell in the area and reported the moose to authorities on September 23. Wildlife Trooper Chadd Yoder says he went out to investigate the next day.
“When I went out there, confirmed that it was, in fact, a cow, confirmed it was shot,” Yoder says. “Certainly didn’t die by natural circumstances, definitely shot.”
Yoder declined to go into detail about the initial analysis of the site and evidence since the investigation is ongoing. Based on recent weather and the animal’s decomposition, he says he believes the cow was killed shortly after the season opened – around 5-10 days before the body was discovered.
The crime caught the attention of a local hunters’ association.
“In the end, it’s just unethical as a hunter, and irresponsible,” says Robbie Marshall, treasurer of the Stikine Sportsmen Association, which has put up a reward of $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of whoever killed and abandoned the cow.
“Of course, when you’re hunting, mistakes are made,” Marshall says, “But to literally leave hundreds of pounds of meat, that could have been distributed throughout the entire community, to be just irresponsibly just left for waste – that is the main problem that we see.”
Marshall says the money comes from the Sportsmen’s fundraising efforts – primarily their auction dinner that happens in early spring each year. And the reward could grow – Marshall says Wrangell residents have reached out and said they want to add to the pot.
As of October 5, local authorities were still investigating the crime.
Wildlife Trooper Chadd Yoder encourages anyone with information about the incident to get in contact with authorities.
“If somebody comes to us at any point in the investigation and they let us know what happened, that they did something – likely, they’re gonna get in trouble,” Yoder says. “But it’s going to be a whole lot better and go a whole lot better for the individual if they approach us, versus if through the course of investigation we end up at their doorstep.”
Alaska’s meat salvage laws are strict. If a hunter doesn’t make an attempt to salvage meat, the minimum fine is $2,000 and seven days in jail. The more serious charge, called “wanton waste,” can carry up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail.
Law enforcement and Stikine Sportsmen Association encourage anyone with information about the incident to reach out to Wildlife Trooper Chadd Yoder at 907-795-3558. Anonymous tips can be submitted to 800-478-3377.
Get in touch with KSTK at news@kstk.org or (907) 874-2345.
