It started the day before Thanksgiving 2025 with a report to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) of a mature bull elk found shot dead and left to rot inside the wildlife refuge at the MDC Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Carter County.
It continues with four charges filed in Carter County courts against a Summersville man for:
- Taking elk inconsistent with the rules (season and permit) of the Wildlife Code of Missouri,
- Taking elk inside a state wildlife refuge,
- Taking elk with the aid of artificial light, and
- Wanton waste of the elk.
It was Nov. 26, 2025, when a Poplar Bluff couple driving through Peck Ranch along the elk viewing route first reported the animal’s location to MDC. Conservation agents immediately responded and began investigating the scene, documenting and storing evidence, and performing a necropsy on the elk.
Over the following four months of the poaching investigation, conservation agents interviewed potential witnesses and received several anonymous calls and Operation Game Thief (OGT) reports related to the incident.
Agents used surveillance video from a cooperating business and information from three search warrants to collect additional evidence along with analytical and firearm tracking-support from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Forensics Lab and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
The charges were filed based on a probable cause statement from conservation agents that resulted in the Carter County associate circuit court judge issuing a court summons for the man to appear for arraignment on April 14.
Conservation Agent Brad Hadley, who led the investigation, said progress on this case was greatly aided by information from local community members and tips through the Operation Game Thief hotline.
“This speaks to how much people in Missouri value our wildlife and support efforts to conserve and protect it,” Hadley said. “From the couple driving the elk viewing route in Peck Ranch who first reported it, to all the people who provided tidbits of information, to the local business that gladly shared its pertinent security videos, to the prosecutors and courts that granted the search warrants and to the MSHP Forensics Lab and the ATF – a tremendous thank you!”
MDC Protection Chief Travis McLain added that public support of conservation is critical to conservation success.
“Our conservation agents work hard to build public trust by thoroughly investigating incidents reported by the public. We could not have solved this case without the many members of the public who helped us.”
Poaching — the taking of wildlife outside of season, without the proper permit or in other violation of the Wildlife Code of Missouri — hurts Missouri wildlife and those who appreciate it.
The Operation Game Thief (OGT) hotline allows people to report poaching and other possible violations of the Wildlife Code calling 800-392-1111. Callers may remain anonymous and may be considered for a reward.