UNION COUNTY, OR - The Oregon State Police is reporting that on October 1, 2022, the opening day of the rifle deer season, deer hunters contacted Oregon State Troopers to advise they had located a deceased bull elk.
The bull elk was located on private timber company lands off Kingsbury Lane north of Elgin, Oregon in the Wenaha Wildlife Management Unit. Fish and Wildlife Troopers responded to the scene and determined the bull elk had been shot from Kingsbury Lane with a rifle and had been left to waste. The elk had been shot a couple of days prior and no part of the elk had been removed or any attempt to salvage the meat had been taken.
With the public's assistance, Troopers developed a suspect in the case. Cody Murrill, 42 of Elgin, Oregon, was interviewed, cited, and released to appear in court for criminal charges of Unlawful Take of a Branch Antlered Bull Elk and Waste of Wildlife.
On January 20, 2023, Cody Murrill appeared in the Union County Circuit Court and plead guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to:
- 10 days in jail
- 12 months’ probation
- Forfeiture of the rifle used in the unlawful taking
- $440 in fines
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The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division is asking for the public’s help in locating the individual or individuals responsible for the poaching of a branch antlered bull elk in the Wenaha wildlife management unit, north of Elgin, Oregon. It is believed the bull elk was shot with a rifle on the evening of Friday, September 30, 2022, one day prior to the opening of the controlled rifle buck deer season. The bull was shot on private timber lands off Kingsbury Lane near Darr Road. No part of the elk was removed, and the bull was left to waste.
OSP Fish & Wildlife Division is urging anyone with information about this case to call the Oregon State Police Tip-line at 1-800-452-7888, *OSP (*677), or email at . Please reference case number SP22-265831
***Report Wildlife and Habitat Law Violators***
The Turn In Poachers (TIP) program offers preference points or cash rewards for information leading to an arrest or issuance of a citation, to a suspect, for the unlawful killing of wildlife, and or waste of big game. Cash rewards can also be awarded for turning in people who destroy habitat, illegally obtain licenses/tags, and for unlawful lending/borrowing of big game tags. Learn more: https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/fw/Pages/tip.aspx
PREFERENCE POINT REWARDS:
* 5 Points-Mountain Sheep
* 5 Points-Rocky Mountain Goat
* 5 Points-Moose
* 5 Points-Wolf
* 4 Points-Elk
* 4 Points-Deer
* 4 Points-Antelope
* 4 Points-Bear
* 4 Points-Cougar
Oregon Hunters Association (OHA) Cash Rewards:
* $1,000 Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, and Moose
* $500 Elk, Deer, and Antelope
* $300 Bear, Cougar, and Wolf
* $300 Habitat Destruction
* $200 - Illegally obtaining Oregon hunting or angling license or tags
* $200 - Unlawful Lending/Borrowing Big Game Tag(s)
* $100 Upland Birds and Waterfowl
* $100 Game Birds or Furbearers
* $100 Game Fish and Shellfish
Oregon Wildlife Coalition (OWC) Cash Rewards:
Birds$500 Hawk, Falcon, Eagle, Owl, OspreyAll other protected avian species: see category below for listed species
Mammals$500 Cougar, Bobcat, Beaver (public lands only), Black bears, Bighorn Sheep, Marten, Fisher, Sierra Nevada Red Fox
Species listed as “threatened" or “endangered" under state or federal Endangered Species Act (excludes fish)
$1,000 (e.g. wolf, wolverine, kit fox, red tree vole, Canada lynx, sea otter, Columbian white-tailed deer, California brown pelican, western snowy plover, California least tern, northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, short-tailed albatross, streaked horned lark, yellow-billed cuckoo, leatherback sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, Oregon spotted frog, green sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle)
