The wasted bull | MDC
Nearly four months after Missouri’s Operation Game Thief offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the shameless killing of a mature bull elk at Peck Ranch Conservation Area, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced Monday that they believe they have found the perpetrator.
According to a release from the agency, a man from Summersville, Missouri, has been summoned to Carter County Associate Circuit Court on four violations of the Wildlife Code of Missouri. The currently unnamed man is now facing a quartet of serious charges including taking elk inconsistent with the rules governing season and permits, taking elk inside a state wildlife refuge, taking elk with the aid of artificial light and wanton waste of the elk.
These charges stem from an illegal shooting that occurred the night before Thanksgiving 2025 inside the no-hunting wildlife refuge portion of Peck Ranch in Carter County. The bull elk was shot (with the aid of a spotlight, according to investigators), left to rot in an open field roughly 40 yards off a gravel trail, and never recovered for meat, antlers, or any other use.
The carcass was discovered the next morning by a couple from Poplar Bluff who were driving the popular elk-viewing route. They immediately notified MDC agents, who responded, documented the scene, collected evidence, and immediately performed a necropsy.
As we reported back in January, Conservation Agent Brad Hadley called the act “intentional, brazen, and totally irresponsible.” At the time, tire tracks showed a vehicle had driven into the field, circled the carcass, and sped away. Visitor photos helped to narrow the timeline after the bull was seen grazing peacefully at 5:15 p.m. on November 25 and was dead by 8:05 a.m. the following day.
As is the case in many of these incidents, the four-month investigation relied heavily on the public. Anonymous tips through Operation Game Thief, interviews, and surveillance video from a cooperating local business all played key roles in the fight to bring the killer to justice. Agents executed three search warrants and received forensic and firearm-tracing assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Forensics Laboratory and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
“Information provided by members of the public played a significant role in advancing the case,” Hadley said. “This speaks to how much people in Missouri value our wildlife and support efforts to conserve and protect it.”
The $15,000 reward offered in early January, which was promoted widely by Operation Game Thief, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and outdoor media, clearly played an important role in generating the tips that moved the case forward.
A Carter County associate circuit judge has issued a summons and the Summersville man is scheduled for arraignment on April 14th.
This case marks the second high-profile elk poaching incident at Peck Ranch in recent years. A similar 2023 case resulted in probation and roughly $10,000 in fines and restitution. This time around, many in Missouri’s hunting and conservation community are hoping for stronger penalties, given the brazen and wasteful circumstances surrounding the incident.
Peck Ranch remains one of the crown jewels of Missouri’s elk restoration program, which began reintroducing the species in 2011 with help from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation after they had been wiped from the state for over a century. The herd has grown into a major tourism and wildlife-viewing draw — making crimes like this not only illegal but a direct theft from every one of us who values our natural heritage.
