NDOW seeks public's help solving two elk poaching cases

Nevada Department of Wildlife Game Wardens are seeking the public's help with the poaching of two separate bull elks near the Nevada-Utah border.

The first poaching occurred in Lincoln County in an area known as Uvada, approximately one and a half miles from the Utah border along the railroad tracks in Hunt Unit 242, sometime during the Labor Day weekend between August 30 and September 1, 2024.

A bull elk was shot and killed; only its head was removed and taken; the rest of its body was left to waste on site.

Game wardens say they think the elk was shot on the night of August 30, using a spotlight, and think it might have been poached by a person living in Utah, as there was an open archery bull elk hunt less than two miles away in Utah, and there were no open elk hunts in this area of Nevada, which is known to have been a problem location in the past during Utah hunts.

The second poaching of a bull elk left to waste on site also occurred in Lincoln County in the area of Reed Cabin Summit in Unit 231, approximately .75 miles from the Utah border, sometime between the night of December 5 and the morning of December 6.

Injuries on the second elk lead NDOW investigators to think this was not a wounding loss, and the bull died where it was shot about 30 yards off the Reed Cabin Road. Game wardens believe the antlers of the elk were removed sometime between the evening of December 6 and the morning of December 7.

This elk was killed a day after the close of the 231 Resident Antlered Elk Hunt and on the first day of the 231 Resident Antlerless (cow) Elk Hunt. The same time there was also a rifle cow elk hunt and an archery bull elk hunt open for the Indian Peaks hunt unit in Utah.

Anyone with information related to these crimes is encouraged to call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-992-3030 or use the NDOW Tip app. The NDOW Tip app provides the public the ability to submit anonymous tips, photos, or videos to the Nevada Department of Wildlife via text messaging. NDOW tip is available for a fee to access the information; click here.