October 11, 2014
From LaramieBoomerang.com
Regional game wardens are investigating four suspected poaching cases, involving a total of five big game animals.
The cases broke during the first week of October, and involved the apparently illegal killing of a bull moose, three buck mule deer and a buck pronghorn, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Department news releases.
A carcass was discovered Oct. 4 on the eastern side of the Hi-Allen Ranch, southwest of the town of Medicine Bow. It had apparently been illegally shot with a rifle and abandoned. The buck is thought to have been shot that same day, because it was spotted alive by a ranch guest that morning, according to a news release.
A bull moose was apparently illegally shot and “left to rot” sometime on or around Oct. 3 near the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Little Laramie River on the Medicine Bow National Forest, a release states. The bull was killed in Moose Hunt Area 38.
In another case, a buck pronghorn was reported poached in the Pole Mountain area of the Medicine Bow National Forest. Its carcass was discovered on the northeast corner of Pole Mountain on Sunday, the opening day for rifle pronghorn hunting in Antelope Hunt Area 38, according to a news release. It had apparently been shot with a rifle that morning and abandoned.
Game and Fish is also investigating the alleged poaching of two mule deer bucks near Prairie Center on Oct. 4. According to a news release, witnesses saw two people shoot the bucks along County Road 47, before legal shooting hours that morning.
To report tips, call the Stop Poaching Tip Line, 1-877-943-3847, or go to wgfd.wyo.gov. Informants can remain anonymous, and might be eligible for a reward for information leading to arrests.