An Idaho man has been sentenced after illegally killing a bull elk in Utah using a hunting license he obtained by falsely claiming state residency. The case began in 2023, when a concerned citizen tipped off investigators about the fraud, setting off a chain of events that ended with a guilty plea, a $12,500 fine, and an eight-year suspension of his hunting privileges.
According to ABC4 Utah, the Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Law Enforcement received the complaint in 2023 alleging that the Idaho resident had fraudulently obtained a Utah resident elk license and used it to kill a trophy bull elk. Investigators determined the man was not actually a Utah resident, meaning the elk license was invalid and the harvest itself was unlawful.
The man ultimately pleaded guilty to wanton destruction of protected wildlife, a Class A misdemeanor under Utah law. As a result, he was ordered to pay $12,500 in fines and had his hunting privileges suspended for eight years, the outlet's report states. Utah's Division of Natural Resources used the case to issue a broader warning: falsifying residency status on a hunting or fishing license application is illegal and can carry severe consequences.
A Pattern of Residency Fraud in Utah's Big-Game Draws
This case is not an isolated one. In a separate matter detailed by ABC4, 50-year-old Brian Beckstead was charged with one count of wanton destruction of wildlife valued at more than $500 or involving a trophy animal after he drew a Utah resident limited-entry elk permit for the Wasatch Mountains unit in 2022 and harvested a 6x6 trophy bull elk. Investigators said that harvest was unlawful because Utah law invalidates permits purchased using another state's residency status — in Beckstead's case, records allegedly showed he bought Utah resident licenses from 2002 through 2024, except in 2019 and 2020, while also purchasing resident licenses and permits in North Dakota from 2016 through 2025, periods that overlapped with his Utah resident permits. DNR law enforcement seized the mounted bull elk from his residence in Vernal, though it remains unclear whether that case is connected to the one involving the Idaho man.
State wildlife officials describe this type of fraud as a recurring enforcement challenge. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources notes that while some Utahns falsely claim nonresident status to gain bonus points for future draws, it is more common for nonresidents to pretend to be Utah residents in order to illegally obtain a specific hunting permit, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
Poaching Numbers Climbed Sharply Last Year
The broader data suggest these cases are part of a growing trend. Utah recorded 1,007 animals illegally taken in 2024, including 216 deer and 140 elk, with 32 of those deer and elk classified as trophy animals, per Deseret News. The outlet also reported that big-game poaching rose by roughly 26 percent from 2023 to 2024, even as officials issued nearly 1,500 citations after detecting more than 6,000 violations statewide.
Other recent cases underscore how far some hunters have gone to skirt the rules. KUTV reported that two men flew a private helicopter into a remote area of eastern Utah, bypassed locked gates and private property boundaries, and illegally harvested two bull elk after landing on Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit land where their general-season Any Bull permits were not valid. Both men, whose identities were not released, were convicted of unlawfully taking protected wildlife and taking wildlife while trespassing, and they paid significant fines and restitution while facing hunting license suspensions, according to KUTV.
How to Report Suspected Poaching
Utah's Division of Natural Resources Division of Law Enforcement encourages anyone with information about wildlife or other natural resource crimes to come forward. Tips can be phoned in to the DNR Division of Law Enforcement hotline at 800-662-3337, sent by text to 847411, or submitted through the UTDWR Law Enforcement app.
