A Highlands Ranch man was fined and sentenced to three years of probation after he failed to report shooting a moose he thought was an elk.
On April 1, Joel D. Eady, 30, admitted he shot the moose during an October 2010 hunting trip in the Missouri Creek Basin, about 30 miles east of Meeker, according to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Witnesses reported Eady told them he shot the cow moose after mistaking it for an elk. He told witnesses he would turn himself in, but he never did.
“We understand that mistakes happen, and we will usually be more lenient with someone who reports an accident right away, but failing to report this incident turned a careless mistake into a felony,” Jon Wangnild, district wildlife manager and lead investigator, said in a statement.
Eady was charged with willful destruction of wildlife, hunting out of season, illegal possession of wildlife and failing to properly care for a harvested animal. He was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and a $5,177 fine.
