‘Worst Year We’ve Had’ as Three More Elk Poached in Michigan

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Lt. Jim Gorno says, "This is the worst year we’ve had as far as elk poaching" after the discovery of the third elk poaching case in northern Michigan in the last month.

The Michigan DNR announced yesterday that three adult cow elk were poached in Otsego County.

Area residents found the three elk about 50 yards north of Hardwood Lake Road near Bobcat Trail, in the Pigeon River State Forest, east of Vanderbilt.

Officers believe that the three elk were shot either Saturday or Sunday while they were bedded down near each other.

Tips received from the public from an elk poaching case in November helped to identify a suspect in that case. The DNR is hoping for similar success with this case.

Anyone with information about the poaching can contact the DNR Law Enforcement Division in Gaylord at 989-732-3541.

Those with information can also call or text the Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800. Information can be left anonymously with monetary rewards available for information that leads to arrests and convictions.