Authorities in three different states are on a hunt of their own. They’re trying to find thieves who stole valuable elk antlers.
Adam Grenda, a hunter from Alaska who grew up in Idaho, recently spent two weeks in central Montana where he shot a 6×7 bull elk. His brother-in-law stopped at a motel in Billings to get some rest on his way home to Idaho. While inside, someone stole the elk antlers and about $5,000 in hunting gear.
“It crossed my mind, but I’m like, you don’t need to bring an elk rack inside. It’s like 90 pounds with the cape and you’re not going to take it through an elevator and upstairs into a motel room for three, four hours,” Adam Grenada, told KTVQ-TV. “Hindsight, probably should have done that.”
In Olathe, Kansas, a taxidermist had an elk skull drying in the sunshine in his driveway and stepped inside for 15 minutes. When he returned, the rack was gone. The antlers belonged to Bruce Layne, a disabled Air Force officer, who shot the bull on an elk hunt in Idaho.
“I hate to say it, but there’s people out there who could have realized the rarity of what it is and taken it for that reason. I just wish they’d bring it back,” Layne told WDAF-TV.
Thieves also stole an elk head and antlers from a home in Lander, Wyoming.
If you happen to have information linked to any of the incidents, contact law enforcement in those locations.
(Photo source: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation/Jason Matzinger)