Deer hunters notified Oregon State Police troopers on Friday, Oct. 1, 2022, that they found this deceased bull elk north of Elgin. The bull elk was on private timber company lands off Kingsbury Lane in the Wenaha Wildlife Management Unit.

PORTLAND — A statewide anti-poaching campaign kicked off Tuesday, Aug. 8, with a goal of helping Oregonians recognize poaching and encouraging them to report poaching to police.

ProtectOregonsWildlife.com notes that more than 300 big game animals, including deer and elk, were illegally killed in the state over the past year.

Yvonne Shaw, the anti-poaching campaign coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), told KLCC about the difficulties of tackling such a massive problem.

“Last year we had at least 5,000 animals that were illegally killed,” Shaw said, including fish and wildlife. “And OSP (Oregon State Police) Fish and Wildlife troopers only find a fraction of these crimes that occur. These are crimes with voiceless victims.”

Although the poaching of trophy big game animals such as bull elk get considerable attention, Shaw noted that in the past year another iconic Oregon species — salmon — was targeted far more often. More than 1,000 salmon were illegally taken from state waterways, she said.

The anti-poaching campaign is not without teeth.

In 2020 the Oregon Legislature allocated $4.4 million to help ODFW, the Oregon State Police, and the Oregon Department of Justice find and prosecute poachers.

The Oregon Hunters Association continues to offer monetary rewards, through its “Turn In Poachers” (TIP) program.

“There’s an additional take on the wildlife populations that, one, is not legal and, two, there’s no way to monitor the impact on what’s occurring and how much,” said Morgan Olsen, president of the Union/Wallowa chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association. “It makes it very difficult to manage the wildlife populations as there is a certain loss that ODFW can’t manage. It steals the opportunity from law-abiding hunters to harvest an animal who went through the legal process.”

According to Shaw, a survey of Oregonians showed that 83% of respondents considered poaching for “thrill kills” to be more severe than poaching for sustenance.

Additionally, 79% of those surveyed believed that coming generations of state inhabitants would experience the consequences of poaching.

ODFW offers hunter preference points alongside the aforementioned cash reward from the Oregon Hunters Association for those who turn in poachers.

To report a poaching incident, call 800-452-7888 or use Protect

OregonsWildlife.com.