Elk herd slaughtered by poacher - Reward

This is a reward being setup for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a poacher (or poachers) who recently killed at least 5 bull elk in Snyderville, Utah, just north of Park City and Kimball Junction. No meat or antlers were taken as part of the slaughter. Any hunter will tell you it's not exactly hunting season right now.

The Department of Wildlife Resources say they were shot with a .22,  a small caliber which would have led to a slow, painful death for these animals.

Those of us who live here knew this herd very well. They were beautiful animals and these big boys traveled as a group of ~13-15 and were hard to miss. A post on "Nextdoor" alerted our community to what happened, and its posted in its entirety below along with the photos. Permission from the poster was obtained before its use here.

This senseless slaughter must receive justice. Money talks, and I am personally starting this effort with a $1,000 donation. 

If no arrest is made in 6 months your donation will be returned to you by Gofundme (or donated to a wildlife charity if you prefer).

My name is John Nowoslawski and I live here in Silver Creek.  I drive by this herd when they're posted up by Mountain Life Church. I'm pursuing this effort with another neighbor who is consulting with Summit County Sheriffs Department as to the best steps forward.

I've never done a Gofundme before and am certainly no lawyer or expert on this...or on anything. I'm sure I should have some "small print" here but for now I'll say this reward will be given to anyone who provides information that directly leads to the arrest and conviction of the poacher(s). It can be anonymous and I'm open to suggestions on how to do that.

Please feel free to contact me (and/or the Summit County Sheriffs Department and Department of Wildlife Resources) with any information or advice on how to bring these a-holes to justice.

Here are a few photos of the herd before and after.




Original Post on "Nextdoor"

Poached Elk
So I have been holding this back for a couple weeks now. But with my recent personal discovery, I feel it’s time to share. So I live up on Knob Hill behind the fire department on Bitner. A couple weeks back I got a knock from the Wildlife enforcement; asking me if I have heard any gun shots lately. I knew this was a bad sign bc I’ve had a herd of 13-15 bull elk living in the front side of my hill just over the fence. He said someone shot three of the bulls. I hadn’t heard a thing. So I watched to see where the officers went to get an idea of where this happened. After a they left I hopped a fence and found two dead elk, the officers collected the antlers and found they were shot with a .22. For anyone who doesn’t know that’s a tiny bullet for small game, squirrels, etc. the other day I was snow shoeing through my property and the neighbors and found the third elk that was found by officers and antlers collected. As I was going up the hill I saw birds gathering in an area where no elk was reported. So I hopped the fence and found an unreported elk, antlers intact. So I reported it to the same officer who was here. When he came to investigate. I said So I also saw you guys across the street investigating and he told me Yes, this is number 5. So we have a beautiful herd that got whittled down to about 8. The officer and myself seem to believe the shots were taking right from Knob Hill which would be a bit harder or down by Bitner. It’s hard to gather words for this because we are all mind blown. Now my 6 year old know the devastation a poacher can cause. It’s super sad. So please keep eyes and ears out for whoever could be doing this. And if you know anything please report it I have reported this information to the police.