The 14 men suspected of shooting and killing at least 32 bison belonging to ranchers Monte and Tracy Downare were camped in and around the old ranch house of the nearby Hawn Ranch, an investigator said today.
Park County Undersheriff Monte Gore said that some of the men were actually staying in the old ranch house on the property while others were staying in various outbuildings, such as the barn, near the old house.
The group’s weapons have been confiscated by investigators, said the undersheriff.
“I don’t know the exact number, but we’re in the process of processing those weapons and getting them into evidence,” said Gore.
Gore said the members of the party “seemed to be from and around the state of Colorado.”
Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents and forensic experts are joining the investigation to analyze bullets, bullet fragments and other forensic evidence taken from the bison.
Gore also said that within a day or two, investigators plan to fly over the area to see whether they can spot additional dead bison. He said it is quite possible more will be found.
The animal carcasses were found on the Hawn Ranch, other private property and also on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands.
Gore said the 14 hunters used vehicles to reach the Hawn Ranch.
The shootings of the Downares’ bison happened just days after Austin, Texas, businessman Jeff Hawn filed suit in Park County District Court claiming that the Downares’ bison were stampeding onto his property in South Park.
Hawn, who identifies himself as 50 percent shareholder and manager of Wateredge Properties, claims that “herds” of the Downares’ bison had repeatedly broken through the fences erected to keep the buffalo off Wateredge property, damaging or destroying the fences in 50 places.
“The damage that (the Downares’) buffalo have caused to the property is staggering,” said the lawsuit.
Stephen Csajaghy, a lawyer for the longtime Denver law firm of Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons, which represents Hawn, said neither he nor Hawn would comment on the situation.
The Downares have declined to comment while the investigation continues.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
