A Texan who shot a six-point elk while bow-hunting on land where he wasn’t licensed to hunt has paid a $12,000 fine for poaching.
Mitchell Phelps, 46, of Athens, Texas, shot the trophy bull elk on Sept. 16 in game-management unit 61, on the west side of the Uncompahgre Plateau near Montrose. Phelps’ license, however, allowed him to hunt only in game-management unit 62, located just to the northeast of where he was hunting.
“The guy knew where he was, and he went ahead and took his chances,” said Joe Lewandowski, Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman.
Phelps couldn’t be reached for comment.
Officials said hunters wait for years to draw licenses for the area where the elk was shot.
Ryan Swygman, a district wildlife manager, said he was on routine patrol when he saw an elk rack in the back of a pick-up truck. He said he stopped to inspect the elk and became suspicious because the animal wasn’t properly tagged.
Swygman said Phelps told him that he shot the elk in the area he was licensed for, but the bull ran more than a mile into a different hunting area.
Swygman said the arrow pierced the elk’s lungs and heart. “When an animal gets shot in the heart and lungs, it usually can’t run very far,” he said.
After meeting with wildlife officers and sheriff’s officials, Phelps agreed to plead guilty to illegal possession of wildlife and failing to tag the animal properly.
The maximum penalty was a $20,000 fine and time in jail.
Phelps also was assessed 35 penalty points against his hunting privileges. He could lose the right to hunt for up to five years in Colorado and possibly 24 other states because of an interstate compact agreement.
Texas isn’t a member of the compact.
State wildlife officials will decide the length of his suspension later this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
