Officers with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources are investigating several cases of animal wasting across Utah.
Officer Wyatt Mecham with the DWR investigates wasting incidents. He said when hunters kill an animal and leave behind the majority of it, they are wasting the animal.
“If you kill a big game animal, you need to take the four quarters — which is the front legs, the hind legs, the back straps and the tenderloins — for it to not be a wasting issue. If you kill an animal and fail to take the meat then we consider it a waste,” Mecham said.
He said using the meat of the animals he hunts is an important part of hunting, "As a sportsman, a hunter myself, we’re harvesting these animals for food, not just to kill them. The value of the animal and being a sportsman is not just killing something to kill something," Mecham said.
He said if hunters make a mistake and end up killing the wrong animal, the DWR will work with them to find a solution.
“People make mistakes and we realize that. If they call us, we can work it out with them. But a lot of times these people just leave the animal and go instead of reporting the violation to us,” he said.
The DWR said allowing protected wildlife to be wasted can result in a class B misdemeanor.
“If people will call, let us know they made a mistake, we are definitely lenient. And if we know about it, we’re not going to spend hours and hours on a case that could have been resolved much easier,” Mecham said.
If you have any information about animals being wasted, he said to reach out to investigators with the DWR.
