has it ever came to fisticuffs over a freshly killed elk???

[Niemo.Mt]

In Montana, all you need is small amount of blood or anything that has DNA!!  It's a little easier to find your arrow than a bullet but as long as you have something FWP will do a test!!!  Before the wolves killed off most of the Yellowstone herd, there were many stories of guys hunting with a tag, knife, and running shoes during the damage hunts!  Still happens today though so get as much evidence as you can if you have to leave!!  Better yet, grab a quarter or back straps and you are covered!  I haven't heard of anyone ballsy enough to mess with a cut up animal!!  Sad fact about leaving a partial animal though is leave the horns!!  I have seen a hunter get a ration of shiznit for leaving the meat and taking the head out first from a game warden!!

 

[rosey elkhunter]

all nasty stories.....i guess that is why i park and get to my spot miles in every day....amazing how many people dont show up at the trail head after opening weekend..... no people, no problems.... and lots of elk....  ;D  4 of us snuck up on  a guy last year( unintentionally).... he almost threatened us....but he soon realized he was way out gunned.....8 to 1....we appoligized and left....we saw him the next day 8 miles in with a bull down...congradulated him.....too bad he got kinda pissy the previous day...or we would all have helped him haul it out......he was solo....i wonder why...

 

[Alder]

I've heard the horror stories too, but luckily i have always ended up with ethical hunters around with an animal down. My sister and brother in law were back in the wilderness when they came upon a dead elk, still warm, from being shot the night before. They decided it was good to quarter it up to ensure the meat was safe. Just as they were finishing they heard someone coming along. They went out to meet him and asked if he had shot an elk. The guy said yes and could ID the shot and broadhead (stuck in the of shoulder). They helped him pack out too. That was about 15 years ago - they are still good friends with him and his camp mates, and have hunted with him many times since. So it works the other way too!

 

[COelkaholic88]

Never been in one myself, but a good friend of mine shot a spike and found him pretty quickly. He then left to go get help to quarter him and pack it out. When they returned there were 3 guys standing over his elk. They said one of them had shot it. My friend called the police. Once the police arrived they told him that there was not a whole lot they could do. He then asked the cops "what if I can prove the elk is mine", he then looked at the cop and said 1996. The cop looked at him puzzled. He walked over to his spike and pulled a 1996 quarter from the spikes mouth. He had placed the quarter in the spikes mouth before going back to camp. There was nothing the 3 guys could say. He said the cop gave these guys a pretty good toungue lashing. My friend had read or heard about the quarter trick and carries a few quarters for this purpose.

The quarter trick is the way to go. I won't give specifics where I stash mine but I put it in a place on the hide that won't usually get cut opened by a knife. I engraved specific markings on the front and back and used an odd year. I was told of this trick by a friend on Facebook and he had used it one year while solo hunting. When he returned to pack his bull out there were others who claimed it was theirs. He called the authorities and the the warden asked how he could prove and he told him where the quarter was located, the specific year and the color he had painted it. The gentlemen were caught in their lie, and we're charged with poaching. Their rifles and vehicle were confiscated as well. Don't be a victim to lazy unethical pathetic excuses of hunters. I highly recommend this to all.