Missouri lawmakers consider poaching bill

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Missouri lawmakers have reintroduced a proposal that would allow judges to order poachers to pay restitution fees ranging from $375 to $5,000.

The two identical bills filed in the Missouri House and Senate could gain more traction among lawmakers this year considering three recent cases in which elk were illegally killed.

Under the proposed legislation, the fees vary depending on whether poachers were convicted for illegally killing deer, elk, black bears, turkeys or paddlefish. The restitution money would go toward the state’s education fund.

Republican Sen. Mike Bernskoetter says the state’s maximum fine for poaching can be less than the cost of a hunting license, so many poachers take their chances.

The bill passed the House last year, but died in a Senate committee.

State conservation officials said last week they are investigating the killing of two adult elk in Shannon County.

The Conservation Department said the elk were shot and killed and left to rot on Feb. 8. Another elk poaching was reported in the same area in January.

One of the elk was a 10-year-old bull that was brought to Missouri from Kentucky in 2011. The other was an adult cow born in Missouri.

Conservation agents said no parts of either animal were removed.

A conservation division chief, Randy Doman, said it appears poachers wanted to shoot elk for fun or spite.

Doman said it was the fifth known elk poaching since the elk population was restored in Missouri in 2011.