Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking the public for help identifying the person or persons who killed a bull elk between June 24 and the morning of June 26 between the towns of Como and Hartsel.

Wildlife officers were alerted to a bull elk carcass which had been dumped alongside Pike National Forest Road 146, just east of The Buffalo subdivision. Only a single backstrap had been removed from the elk. One of the antlers had been cut in half but that piece was left on the ground beside the carcass. The elk was shot twice with a high-power rifle.

Wildlife officers are hoping that someone camping in the Tarryall area or a resident of either Indian Mountain or the Buffalo subdivisions saw or heard something that may help solve the case.

A $1,000 reward is being offered in this case. Information can be provided anonymously through Operation Game Thief by phone at 877-265-6648 or by email at game.thief@state.co.us. A person who was willing to testify about information they provided which led to the filing of charges would be eligible for a preference point or a hunting license in this case.

“This was a senseless and disgraceful act that demonstrates a complete disregard for our state’s wildlife and the parties responsible need to be held accountable,” said District Wildlife Manager Ian Petkash.

Poaching is a serious and costly crime. It robs legitimate sportspeople of game and fish, businesses and taxpayers of revenue generated by hunting and fishing, and robs all of us of a valuable natural resource that makes Colorado so special: our wildlife.