The Oregon Hunters Association is offering a $7,500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case of a bull moose poached in Wallowa County, and area landowners are offering an LOP bull elk tag as part of the reward.

Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Troopers are asking for the public’s assistance in locating and apprehending whoever is responsible for shooting a bull moose sometime between Nov. 8 and Nov. 11 (the last couple of days of the second Bull Elk Season) in Wallowa County.

OHA offers a $1,000 reward from the Turn In Poachers fund, and 11 OHA chapters (Union/Wallowa, Emerald Valley, Yamhill, Clatsop, Josephine County, Capitol, Ochoco, Bend, Columbia County, Umpqua, Rogue Valley, Tualatin Valley and Hoodview) pledged $500 each.

“The poaching of a moose is a tragic thing,” said OHA Conservation Director Jim Akenson, who resides in Wallowa County. “Especially because our moose population is low – fewer than 70 in Oregon. For perspective, gray wolves already number more than twice that many in Oregon, so moose should deserve at least equal management protection.”

Also offered as part of the reward for information leading to an arrest is a Landowner Preference bull elk tag for the Krebs Ranch in the Chesnimnus Unit for the second bull season in 2019. The tag, arranged by Wallowa County resident Jim Zacharias, must be purchased from ODFW by the recipient.

The moose was shot and partially cut up off of the USFS 46 Road between Teepee Pond and mile marker 35 in the Chesnimnus Unit. The suspect(s) accessed the moose carcass from a campsite on the north side of the USFS 46 Road. Additionally, a side-by-side UTV was used to haul the moose meat and parts from the kill site back to the campsite.

Anyone with information that will help identify the suspect(s), is asked to call the TIP line at (800) 452-7888, *OSP (677) or Senior Trooper Mark Knapp at (541) 426-3049.

Informants providing information leading to an arrest in the case could be eligible for 5 big game preference points in lieu of the standard $1,000 TIP reward for a moose case. Callers may remain anonymous and still collect a reward.

In 2017, OHA (www.oregonhunters.org) increased the TIP reward amounts and paid a record $24,200 to informants in fish and wildlife violation cases.

TIP rewards are paid for information leading to the arrest/conviction of person(s) for the illegal possession, killing, taking, and/or waste of deer, elk, antelope, bear, cougar, wolf, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, moose, furbearers and/or game birds.

* $1,000 Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat and Moose
* $500 Elk, Deer and Antelope
* $300 Bear, Cougar and Wolf
* $300 Habitat Destruction
* $100 Game Fish and Shellfish
* $100 Upland Birds and Waterfowl
* $100 Furbearers

The TIP program also offers the option of preference point rewards instead of cash rewards for information leading to an arrest or issuance of a citation for the unlawful take/possession or waste of big game mammals.

Preference Point Rewards:

* 5 points for reporting a case involving bighorn sheep, mountain goat, moose or wolf

* 4 points for reporting a case involving elk, deer, antelope, bear or cougar
How to report a wildlife and/or habitat law violation or suspicious activity:
TIP Hotline: 1-800-452-7888 (24/7)
TIP E-Mail: TIP@state.or.us (Monitored M-F 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.)