In Wyoming
You boys are right to want to limit Stupid NR hunters...

Man Sentenced for Shooting Moose for Elk

11/18/2013

BAGGS - Thanks to a tip from a concerned hunter, a Rawlins man is facing fines and penalties for killing a moose he thought was an elk and leaving it to waste.

Albert Wayne Vanderford Jr., 49, of Rawlins, was sentenced by Judge Jane Eakin in the Carbon County Circuit Court on Nov. 6 for taking a moose without a license. Judge Eakin sentenced Vanderford to a one year probation, hunting and trapping privileges suspended for three years, and $8,520 in court fines and restitution for the moose.

Baggs Game Warden Kim Olson said had it not been for a tip from another hunter who suspected something was illegal this case might not have been solved.

�On Oct. 25, Vanderford asked another hunter not associated with him if he would help load his �elk�, Olson said. �This legal hunter immediately knew that was no elk and told Vanderford that it was a moose and not an elk.�

Vanderford proceeded to tell the other hunter that he moved to Rawlins from Florida and it was his first time hunting elk. The other hunter was able to provide a physical description of Vanderford, including that he had a southern accent, a vehicle description, and a partial license plate number.

�Had this man not taken the time to record this information we might not have been able to solve this case,� Olsen said.

Olson said everyone makes mistakes at some time in their life and hunters are no exception.

�We understand that accidents happen, but honesty is the best policy in every case,� Olson said. �Mr. Vanderford had two opportunities to turn himself in and admit he made a mistake. Instead, he chose to flee the scene, lie about the moose poaching, and leave a moose to waste instead of field dressing it. He could have made the best of a bad situation, but he chose poorly. If there is a bright side, it�s the fact that another hunter cared enough to notice there was a problem and take action.�

Olsen said the moose did not go to waste. �The Snake River Taxidermy and Processing Plant in Baggs donated the time and cost to process the moose and the meat was given to those in need.�

Anyone with information on a wildlife violation may call the Stop Poaching Hotline at 877-WGFD-TIP. Tips may be reported online at wgfd.wyo.gov and to local Game and Fish offices and game wardens. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $5,000 if the information leads to a conviction.

(Contact: Kim Olsen (307) 383-2160)

-WGFD-

This is not an uncommon occurrence, it happens every year.

Work with me..........

I just can't find how long since he moved to Wy

He got off too easy. Not that he shot a moose by mistake, but that he was not honest and ran. He shouldn't be able to hunt the state again for life.

Maybe even a warning to other western states to not give him a tag. He acted like a criminal. Treat him like one.

If WY takes away his hunting privledges he is automatically not allowed to hunt in any state that is a part of the 'Compact'. IIRC that numbers in the 30s.

Where I live here in Idaho, the F&G usually has a check station just out of town on the highway coming out of the St. Joe river. Its been 10 or 15 years ago a man came threw the check station to check in his first cow elk. He was proud as could be grinning from ear to ear. The only bad part was that his "cow elk" was somebody mule. He had field dressed it an everything. Don't remember the outcome. Some people should just not be allowed to hunt without supervision.

What does this have to do with NR hunters? Isn't Rawlins in WY?

That made me laugh. I know it's not funny to the owner of the mule, but the guy being proud was funny.

Uhh, that was my question too. I'm a non resident that hunts out west & clearly know the difference between elk and moose. Appears the resident hunter is the problem in this case.

Maybe he meant a different Wyoming!

^^^ This...unfortunately quite often...

Just in case, I put big, bright orange neck bands on my llamas. It's not a cure all but it could make a difference.

I think most guys who do it realize their mistake before trying to load it in the truck, at least.....

about 6 years ago a IDFG investigator approached our moose camp and stood just talking with us for a while. after about 30 minutes he came into the fire circle and sat down to a cup.
all this time I was wondering what was going on. He finally told us he was investigating a 48" bull kill that had been left to rot. still makes me sick just thinking about it. the party that was camped next to us had come in from hunting a few days before and packed up and left fast. Elk season was running at the same time. turns out these folks had come up from a city and had spent thousands on outfitting themselves with the latest and best equiptment. 4wheelers with zero miles on them etc. they just forgot to learn the difference between a Elk and a moose.
22000.00 fine loss of hunting rights etc. one sad mess that seems not to be isolated. by the way the shooter was a woman, but her nimrod of a husband told her to shoot. for all they knew it could have been a camel.(or a LLAMA)

I hope they had to sell their house to pay the fine. Dumbazzes.

You know what makes you mad. Most hunters have to wait at least 20 years to hunt a moose in Colorado, and you're only allowed to kill one bull in your lifetime.

It's a big deal here, and these jerkoffs just shoot one, and try to get away with it.

In my opinion Vanderford got off way too easy given the description of his behavior after the incident.

Yes Mam, I know it's your elk, just let me get my saddle off it first.

LOL. that print has a front and center place in my shop!

I got this as a birthday card at home too....
Spewed coffee out my nose first time I read it.

I remember in PA----they would shoot a bull elk thinking it was a whitetail buck.

It isn't just nonwesterners who do this every year. In Colorado it happens about 10-12 times a year. Also saw it happen in Montana too(guy from Wisconsin). We usually joke about it being a cheese head (my only case with one of them was mistaking a deer for an elk...and it was big deer too), but guys who live here in Colorado do it too. And not just recent transplants.

A few years ago, a woman on a horse near Sun Valley, ID watched a guy in a pickup stop and shoot a moose cow and calf from the road. She rode up and asked him about it and he assured her that he had tags. She believed him and rode on without getting even a description of the pickup beyond the color. He left both moose to rot. They never caught him.

Probably not rare since Colorado devotes a page and a pdf fact sheet to the issue on their website.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/hunting/Pages/Hunting.aspx

http://www.huntthewest.com/updates2009/llama.htm

For someone from NY. Anything with 4 legs looks like an elk.

NYC maybe. Not us Upstaters. Iv'e hunted out west many times and never killed a moose, horse, mule or anything else mistaking it for an elk. Never got an elk either though!

Sorry, I was thinking of the big city. I can't imagine any real hunter mistaken a llama for an elk.

Dam kid up North shot a cow Elk the other year thinking it was a really big doe!

We also go over the differences in detail (with photos) in the Hunter Ed class.

I remember as a teen, being in the ranger station in Lowman ID. picking up a firewood permit or something in the mid 80's and a call came in over the radio from one of the rangers in the field saying he had come across an elk hunter who shot a moose up in Bear Valley. The ranger brought it to the guys attention, the hunter was convinced he had shot an elk. Never heard what ended up happening, but I remember it clearly.

Partially in the poor guy's defense, in profile in the shade, a llama could easily be mistaken for a cow elk. However, once it's on the ground, all similarity is gone. To gut and load it in the truck is pathetic.

The good news is, I have it on good authority that llamas are good to eat.

Yes, they do taste good. I read that it was a feral llama and he didn't break any laws shooting it...other than the laws of common sense. He's paid dearly for that infraction, though.

This thread is hilarious!

How could anyone ever mistake a moose for an elk?

Back when I first moved to Colorado in the mid-1980s, moose were rare, with just a couple of small herds up around North Park. A 70 year-old man from Minnesota, hunting elk, shot a moose by mistake. I was still young enough that I was thinking, "What's a 70 year-old man doing hunting elk."

Having had my first elk hunt after reaching the ripe old age of 70 this year, I realize that age had nothing to do with it.

I don't remember the date and the particular quake but several years back, after an earthquake in the LA region. The power was off. People late at night started calling the local police asking why the stars were so bright, if the quake had affected the stars making them brighten, and what the strange glowing cloud was in the sky.(Milky Way)

People who live their whole lives in big cities are, well, "sad" is the word that comes to mind.

Part of this, at least I think... is due to the fact so many read that you may only get a glimpse of an elk or whatever and you better be fast on the trigger.

IMHO thats POOR advice when we preach in safety, make sure you ID the target etc...

I let a muley go once, over 200 inches( it was killed a few days later) because I could not get a clear shot at it. Could have shot at it or shot it somewhere probably, but patience generally can lead to the cleanest kills... and the chance of tag soup, but who really cares enough to risk killing the wrong animal, or wounding one...

As to all the resident folks calling the NR folks the problem, you better look hard at your locals too, NR are not the problem.
The problem is uneducated folks, they come in R and NR variety all the time and simply due to numbers of tags, the R will have more violations than the NR....

Lived in Pennsylvania most of my life and it seemed every year someone would shoot an elk in mistake for a deer. Never could figure that one out.

mudhen you look elk-capable to me....

They're as different as cows and horses but, sad to say, this happens all the time. I don't know if guys go hunting without knowing what their game looks like or if they get some kind of mental block that tells them to shoot anything that moves. It's scary.

You always here about someone shooting a moose while elk hunting.

Has anybody shot an elk while moose hunting?

I'm sure it's happened but there are a lot more elk hunters than moose hunters.

Plus, by the time you can get a moose tag, you sort of know what you're doing. Hopefully.

My grandfather told me of a time when he and some neighbors were hunting elk up around Naples, Idaho in the early fifties. They had chased a small group of cows into a small patch of timber. Grandpa huuried around with the intent of ambushing an elk as it came out the other side. As soon as the cow made it's appearance, he pulled down with his Model 95 and put one right between it's ears. As the rifle fired, he thought those ears didn't look quite right and he had shot a cow moose which had been bedded down and had run out ahead of the elk. Wild meat being an important component of their diet, there was no thought of leaving it and he said it looked much like an elk once it was skinned and quartered and you didn't look too closely. He said he was nervous about shooting for a couple of years after that and missed out on some elk from taking too long to decide to shoot. GD

In some of Idaho's better elk units, moose tags are a lot easier to get than elk tags.

That would be nice. I know where moose are, but the wait is at least 20 years here.

In my life, I have seen hunters shooting a black angus and claiming to my uncle he was asking for help to haul out... and claimed he had shot the biggest deer he'd ever seen....

or their was the Californian, who was stopped at a game inspection station during elk season... he manage to have a cow elk tag... how ever when F & W inspected the cut up animal that he had in the trunk of his Cadillac taking back to California, turned out to be a mule instead...

and how many horses get shot or shot at each year by elk hunters who are from the big cities and out hunting for the first time...

Hmmmm, reminds me of a limerick concerning a certain Argentine gaucho named Bruno.

come on kaywoodie recite it for us. I love limericks

20 years? That is a long long wait....maybe you should move to Canada or Alaska??

When I was a teen we hunted in northern BC near Chetwind, up the Burnt River.

The first thing our outfitter did was take us over to a 5 day dead horse carcass and ask what is was.

I said a stinking horse carcass; my dad just laughed.

The outfitter seem relieved and told us the horse had been shot out from under one of his Cree Indian guides by a Texas hunter, who was sure he had killed his first moose.

That's understandable. Indian guides always ride on moose.

Not me. I never even thought of saving points for moose. I was always happy with elk.

An Argentine gaucho named Bruno
Said sex is one thing I do know,
Tho women are fine, and sheep are divine,
Llamas ate N�mero Uno!

OK, that got me laughing this morning

I've seen this happen quite a bit and I always wonder how unintentional it is. I have seen plenty of Moose during elk season and have no idea how you could mistake a moose for an elk.

I am still wondering about the op's comment about nr's means

Me too!!

A local wildlife officer told me a story of helping a guy who got his son his first muley doe with a muzzleloader.

They were so excited and when he went up the hill with them they found a elk calf.

Obviously it was not a good situation, but the CDOW officer really felt bad for the two and they were ashamed when they found out what they did.

I actually helped the son and father the next year haul their first LEGAL mule deer buck off the mountain. They didn't tell me the story and I only found out later when the CDOW officer heard me talking about helping them and he asked their description.

They made a mistake, but they paid for it in humiliation and I'm glad it didn't stop them from trying again.

I know some would want to drop the hammer on them, but I did feel bad that a dad was trying to get out and learn about hunting with his son and it ended like that.

When I went through hunters safety in NY in the 80's we were shown pic of a hispanic lad from the city that had a huge deer mounted on his car hood.

Unfortunately it was a donkey.

A few years ago I was driving in the Gravellys and came on a cow moose and her calf shot at the edge of a road. There were narrow tracks (small truck?) where they had backed up to the cow and prints all around where they had tried loading it without even gutting her. She was still warm. I reported it to fish and fur, and later that day when I passed the check station I asked if they had made any progress on the case. The officer a the game check hadn't even heard about it, and I never heard another word. No story, no investigation, no call for add'l information, nothing. I suppose they never caught up with the shooters. Still makes me angry to think about it.

One time, at band camp........

I remember one night in St. Maries (that St Joe country- we were working out of Calder Ranger Station) about 2 am on a July night seeing a Bronco come down main street with an elk tied on top.

Since we were all underage and drunk it was probably a wise decision not to flag down the Sheriff car we passed a couple blocks later... Don't know outcome.

I know of three instances where porcupines were initially mistaken for bears - two of them I was involved in, but only one where I made the ID... alpine country, and it took the spotting scope to sort it out. Biggest danged porky I ever saw, too.

Points for effort seem deserving of the situation at least.

What does donkey taste like?

Sadly when I read the original article, I thought it was an anomaly .
In my wildest dreams I can't image the mistake much less all the others
posted.
My MO was to try to bait the resident hunters who want to ban the nonresident
hunters because they do stupid things,wanton waste, not safe in wilderness , etc....
The shooter being a resident being the irony.

We are our own worst enemies.

I have heard of guys mistaking turkey vultures for wild turkeys.

If he had turned himself in, admitting his screw up what would have happened to him?

I can match that, a couple of older Italians used to come from Melbourne each year to shoot black ducks, they shot them, processed them, and took them home for their families to eat...that's right, you guessed it they were shooting crows.

It has been the local joke here for some considerable time, mainly because they simply would not be convinced that the birds were not "black ducks".

When I was in my early 20's I was hunting at Fort Hunter Liggett in CA. In the low-light early evening, I almost mistook a tule elk for a deer (I had a doe tag, so horns were not an issue). At that time, I had never seen a tule elk before, but didn't shoot because I knew it was too large for a coastal blacktail. I could see making an error based on inexperience, but trying to cover it up is another matter.

This year in GMU 18, Colorado, a bow hunter did just that. Shot a cow moose thinking it was a cow elk! Colorado has a law that if you turn yourself in the fine ain't as heavy. Turned out just so. He was a local too! Good enough to kill with a bow but not good enough to tell the difference??? Retired game officer told us this story. We all just scratched our heads!

Not much typically. Here in Colorado we typically use a basic regulation violation that'll run someone about $70 for a self reported accidental kill(spike on a cow tag, etc) or a careless hunting ticket (usually $500 for killing the wrong species), often followed with a few written warnings. Don't self report and take care of the meat, you often get the book thrown at you.

I've spent a few months there, would love to hunt it! It was the only time I've seen elk in person, also the old mission out there is pretty cool!

That is very reasonable.

I can beat this story. I went up to Utah to visit a friend, opener of deer season was that day. The hills were full of horses and riders both wearing full blaze camo. I thought, how crazy are they?

That night on the news, a guy had been shot off his 4 wheeler while riding down the road with a deer on the back of the 4 wheeler!

I've seen it happen to mule deer in WT only zones...you think people would know but they either don't or just shoot and ask questions later. Just want to kill something so they can be a "hunter".

tastes like ass

You seem experienced. What does ass taste like?

well Donkey of course!

unless you were serious, in that case it was a metaphor and a play on words or "pun". (ass is another word for donkey)

I'm surprised no one quipped on it earlier. must be one of them mornings

Wonder how many reading this thread have been guilty of shooting the wrong animal. I'll bet a few.

I know a donkey is also called an ass, and no, I wasn't serious.

I know

Pretty much the case here in Alaska.

Would have been even better had they let the sucker take it to a game processor.

Mule probably eats OK... I had it on authority from a WWII vet that mule backstraps and tenderloins are excellent. He was out on the Aleutian chain back then, and the Army shipped in some dressed mule carcasses for sled dog food, and he was tired of the Army crap, so he robbed the dogs....

Some dumaz here told the likker store lady today that he shot a moose yesterday. She was still really steamed a few minutes later when I was checking out. Told her to call the troopers. She has his ID. No sooner did I leave than I ran into the wife of a brown shirt (F&G Trooper) that I know. Linda went to talk to likker lady.

Someone is going to have a bad day....