Below is a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. For 2024-2025, Fiocchi partnered with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to increase the visibility of poaching incidents in an effort to reduce poaching.
Fish and Game conservation officers are asking people for information about a large bull elk that was shot out of season and left to waste near Pollock.
On Friday, Dec. 6, Fish and Game received a report from a hunter that they had found a mature, trophy class bull elk carcass on National Forest land behind the Whitewater Wilderness Ranch, and near the White Bird Ridge Road in Unit 23.
Conservation Officer James Hohenstreet responded to the area and was taken to the carcass by the hunter. After conducting an initial investigation, Hohenstreet determined that the elk had been shot sometime between Nov. 28 and Dec. 4. At that time, there were no open seasons for antlered elk in Unit 23, and they had been closed for nearly a month.
“This is a very nice, large bull that will score upwards of 300 inches,” Hohenstreet said. “It’s an animal that should have filled a freezer of – and made life-long memories for – one of Idaho’s lawful elk hunters, but that opportunity was stolen from them. Adding insult to injury, this animal was left to waste on the hillside.”
Hohenstreet added that there have been several other big game animals that have been shot and left to waste in the same vicinity in 2024.
If anyone has information about this incident, please call Conservation Officer James Hohenstreet at 208-616-0881, or the Citizen’s Against Poaching Hotline at 1-800-632-5999. Callers can remain anonymous when reporting wildlife violations and may be eligible for cash rewards when that information leads to a citation for a wildlife crime.
“Any information that folks can provide in this case would be extremely helpful,” Hohenstreet said.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)