Elk poaching suspect caught nearly a year after animal’s death, Missouri officials say

A woman is accused of poaching an elk in Missouri last year, officials say.

The elk was killed on National Park Service property in Carter County in November 2019, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. The animal was shot dead in a field at the end of a highway, officials say. No meat or others parts of the elk were taken.

Wildlife agents took two bullets out of the animal and sent them for ballistics testing. The agents also gathered other evidence at the scene.

The monthslong investigation concluded with interviews of Deborah Flanigan in August, officials say. The 50-year-old Chaffee woman is charged with take of a protected species and wanton waste or abandonment of wildlife or parts commonly used for human consumption. Both are misdemeanors.

The case is one of six elk deaths that the Missouri Department of Conservation has investigated over the past few years. The other five cases are ongoing.

The first elk hunting season in Missouri’s modern history is in October, with five permits granted through a lottery process.

Elk are native to Missouri but disappeared from the state in the 1800s due to unregulated hunting. The state introduced about 100 elk in the Ozarks from 2011 to 2013. Their numbers have since increased to about 200.