Mendocino County poaching investigation seeks clues indeaths ofelk

Three Tule elk bulls have been found killed in the Covelo area since Aug. 1, apparent victims of poaching.

The elk, whose populations were decimated in the 1800s, were reintroduced to the Covelo area in the 1980s. Tule elk - found only in California - are making a comeback throughout the state but remain protected, with only limited hunting allowed.

“It’s just gut-wrenching,” said state Fish and Wildlife Lt. Rusty Boccaleoni, who’s investigating the killings.

Two of the elk - both six-point bucks - had their heads removed within a couple of days of the apparent shootings, which occurred at different times between Aug. 1 and Oct. 18, Boccaleoni said. The heads were removed after photographs of the animals had been taken.

Boccaleoni said he’s since recovered one of the heads. He said the person who had the head has not been arrested and he declined to name the person.

Possession of the head “doesn’t mean it’s the shooter,” Boccaleoni said. He noted that people are known to collect the heads of animals they have found dead.

“I’m interested in (talking to the person) who has the other head,” he said.

All three elk were found within 40 yards of each other in the Mill Creek area of Round Valley, just northeast of Covelo, Boccaleoni said. They were near a mostly dry stream bed that has some pools of water, an area showing signs of frequent visits from elk, he said.

It’s also near several marijuana gardens, Boccaleoni said.

“Maybe somebody was protecting their grow,” he said.

With a top weight of about 600 pounds, Tule elk are among the smallest elk, but they can be destructive to fencing and other property. While many ranchers have embraced the effort to revive the elk populations, some have complained that they trample fences and compete with cattle for forage.

Early this year, some Round Valley ranchers sent a letter to the governor, asking that he do something about the Round Valley elk population, which has grown from 30 to about 50 since 1986, said Fish and Wildlife biologist Scott Koller. They’ve also been joined by a few Roosevelt elk, a subspecies with which they can mate. Elsewhere, Tule elk populations have grown considerably more.

“There’s something really keeping the population down there,” Koller said of Covelo. He said he’s heard stories of other poaching incidents.

Statewide, the elk population is estimated at 3,800 following near extinction at the hands of pioneering ranchers and hunters in the early to mid-1800s. Their numbers are believed have once been close to 500,000, according to Fish and Wildlife officials.

Ranchers have contended there are now closer to 100 elk in the Round Valley, creating a hardship.

“It is difficult to make our ranches pay and we can’t afford to run a state-owned herd that eat as much or more than our cows,” the letter, printed in a local newspaper and signed by Terry Proschold, states. The letter also accused the elk of knocking down fences, tearing up yards and eating hay crops. Proschold could not be reached by phone Thursday.

In some other areas, elk have been relocated when their populations outgrow their grazing land.

Koller said wildlife officials also work with ranchers to find ways to reduce damage, including designing fences the elk can cross without breaking them.

The area where the dead elk were found in Covelo also is near Round Valley Indian reservation land, which is exempt from state hunting laws, Koller said. However the tribe has a policy against killing elk, Boccaleoni said.

The elk very well could have been shot somewhere besides the creek area, located on private land, then fled to where their bodies were found. There were signs that at least one of the animals was not immediately killed, causing it to suffer, Boccaleoni said. It apparently had thrashed around before dying, he said.

One or more of the shootings could have occurred on nearby private, state or tribal land, Boccaleoni said.

He does not believe licensed hunters would commit such an act. As a group, they decry killing animals simply for sport. State law and hunter ethics require that the meat from killed animals be utilized. None was removed from the three dead Covelo elk.

“They shot them needlessly,” Boccaleoni said. “It’s sickening.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Caltip hotline at 888-334-2258 or contact Boccaleoni at 456-0607.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.