Poachers: Look Over Your Shoulder

The day after Thanksgiving Fish and Game received information about an elk that had been shot, gutted and hidden under a brush pile in the Camp Nine area north of Bonners Ferry. Officer John Scott went to the site late that afternoon. Soon after arriving and hiding his truck Scott noticed someone walking near the hidden elk. Then a second man appeared. A short time later a third and fourth arrived. As darkness fell, the poachers worked feverishly to skin and quarter the elk. Nightfall and their concentration on the job at hand allowed Scott to get within a few feet of the carcass, where he watched as they stuffed the hind quarters and a front shoulder in meat sacks. The foursome continued, taking the back straps and skinning out the neck. The gig came to an abrupt halt when one of the poachers needed something out of the pack located at Scott's feet. Knives, sharpening stones and radios filled the night air when the order boomed out of the darkness; "EVERYONE ON THE GROUND, FISH AND GAME!" When the dust settled, Scott cited four Washington residents for killing an elk during a closed season, an untagged deer and hunting without a tag.