20 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A man from Kansas pleaded guilty to poaching a moose in Colorado.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), on July 10, 33-year-old Steven Samuelson, of Oakley, Kansas, pleaded guilty to willful destruction of wildlife, as well as hunting without a proper and valid big game license, aggravated illegal possession of wildlife, failure to prepare wildlife for human consumption, hunting in a careless manner and illegal take of wildlife.
CPW says Samuelson received a two-year deferred jail sentence on the felony charge, meaning it will be waived if he meets the terms of the plea agreement and two years unsupervised probation.
In addition, CPW says Samuelson was fined nearly $20,000 and surrendered the bow he used to poach the moose, as well as other property that contained evidence of the crime, including his cell phone.
Samuelson also was assessed 65 points against his hunting license, with just 20 needed to suspend his hunting privileges.
An investigation into the case began in September 2021 when the CPW office in Colorado Springs received a report that someone had illegally shot a bull moose with an arrow in the woods north of Divide.
Three officers, Aaron Berscheid, Travis Sauder and Ben Meier, arrived at the scene and conducted an investigation. They concluded that a suspected poacher had shot the moose and then attempted to remove the head of the animal.
After failing to do so, the suspected poacher, now identified as Samuelson, attempted to hide the carcass by covering it with tree branches and sticks.
The officers collected physical evidence, including the photo to the right, as well as video from the reporting party’s game cameras, which pinpointed the time of the incident and provided photos of the suspect.
“This moose was treated unethically, and that is something we take very seriously,” said Sauder, assistant area wildlife manager for the Pikes Peak region. “We are fortunate members of the public share our passion for wildlife and helped us catch the poacher. We rely on honest sportspeople to help us solve these types of cases.”
CPW says besides the public’s help, they used old-fashioned police work to track down Samuelson.
“The investigation reached a climax when Sauder and Meier drove to Kansas where they worked with members of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to confront Samuelson at work and execute a search warrant to gather valuable evidence at Samuelson’s Oakley home,” said CPW.
Area Wildlife Manager for the Pikes Peak region Tim Kroening says since being reintroduced in 1978, moose have flourished. He says the current population is estimated to be nearly 3,000 animals, and they have spread throughout the state.
“While this creates many wonderful opportunities to photograph, view and hunt these animals, it has also created temptation among some to illegally poach these animals,” Kroening said.
Kroening says the Samuelson case, and others, show CPW is determined to stop future poachers.