Help needed to solve wildlife cases

VERNAL — Officers with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources are investigating several poaching cases, and they're asking for the public's help.

Last summer, pronghorn antelope were shot and left to waste in northeastern Utah.

The cases occurred this past summer and fall in northeastern Utah.

"During this past fall, numerous cases involving illegally taken wildlife have been solved thanks in large part to information given to the UDWR by concerned citizens," says Randall Scheetz, UDWR conservation officer. "However, there are also several unsolved cases. We're hoping someone may have seen or heard something that can help us out."

The following are a few of those cases:

During the week of July 30, four antelope (a buck, two does and a fawn) were shot and left to waste about one mile south of the Redwash turn-off on the Old Bonanza Highway.
During the week of Aug. 9, a buck mule deer was shot along the Harpers Corner's Road west of the Blue Mountain Road turn-off. Its antlers were taken. The rest of the deer was left to waste.
On Sept. 8, a buck antelope was shot and left to waste along the Coyote Wash Road about 10 miles west of SR-45, south of Bonanza.
During the week of Nov. 3, a trophy (28-inch wide) buck deer was shot and left to waste near Watson in the Book Cliffs limited entry area.
On or about Dec. 14, a buck deer was shot and left to waste along the Diamond Mountain/Jones Hole Road near the Brush Creek substation.

If you have information about these, or any other wildlife-related crimes, please call the Utah Turn-In-Poachers (UTIP) hotline at 1-800-662-DEER (3337), the Northeastern Region DWR office at (435) 781-9453, or conservation officer Randall Scheetz at (435) 790-1070.

Anyone giving information that leads to the conviction of someone for illegally taking wildlife is eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. For certain cases involving animals illegally taken on limited entry areas, a person may be eligible for a poaching-reported reward permit.

A poaching-reported reward permit allows you to hunt on the same area where the violation occurred and to hunt the same species that was illegally taken.