The two poached bulls | Utah DNR Law Enforcement
In yet another story of jet-setting hunters finding their way aboard private choppers in search of sacred elk ground, a pair of out-of-staters are facing possible license suspension in Utah after authorities allege they landed in the wrong spot.
According to Utah DNR Law Enforcement, the two unnamed individuals flew into a remote patch of land in eastern Utah, skipped the locked gates everyone else has to live with, and killed two bull elk on land their tags did not cover.
Officials say they landed on a Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit, which consisted of a private ranch property enrolled in a state program that trades public hunting opportunity for landowner cooperation. While on the property, the two men killed a pair of bull elk about 75 yards apart without either one of them having the required CWMU permit. In addition to the slain elk, the two also took sage grouse when there was no season, possessed a deadhead bull without a permit, and used an electronic bow sight.
Unfortunately for our high-flying friends, a CWMU is not “basically public.” It is private land that is typically made up of around 10,000 contiguous acres or more for elk that a landowner association voluntarily puts into a state program. The tradeoff with these types of deals is that the public gets a slice of the permits through the draw or a voucher while the landowner usually ends up keeping most of the bull opportunity.
As per the usual, a tip came into the DNR, leading officers to work the kill sites alongside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. From there, warrants were served across state lines and both men were convicted of unlawfully taking protected wildlife and taking wildlife while trespassing. While exact dollar amounts were not disclosed, they paid what DNR called “significant fines and restitution” and are expected to be handed hefty license suspensions for their actions.
This story comes on the heels of another rotor-related story that was published in Outdoor Life last month after editor Andrew McKean and a handful of friends chartered a helicopter onto landlocked BLM and state school-trust ground in Wyoming. Unbeknownst to the group at the time the trigger was pulled, McKean dropped a bull that just happened to be standing on private land. It was later proven in court, prompting McKean to plead no contest to hunting trespass and using a suppressor while trespassing.
Different intent, same method of transportation. And one that seems to be a growing part of the western access argument.
