Men With ‘Elk Fever’ Jump Gun, Break Rules, Game Warden Says

CORRECTION (Valley Voice, page 3, November 11, 1995): Jeff Belknap of Spokane was charged with shooting before legal hunting hours. A story in Thursday’s Valley Voice reported otherwise.

Two Spokane men were cited for violating state hunting rules last week after they were overcome by what authorities are calling a bad case of elk fever near Newman Lake.

Kraig Wise, 37, and Jeff Belknap, 38, apparently were driving to the rugged woodlands north of the lake to hunt last Wednesday when they spotted two bull elk in a field off Starr Road.

It was before legal shooting hours, about 6:15 a.m., and they were on a county road, from which it’s illegal to shoot.

But the sight of the spike bulls in an open field near the intersection of Starr and Hauser Lake roads apparently was too much, said Sgt. Ray Kahler of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“They jumped out and let them have it,” Kahler said. “Sometimes when you see big game like that, you kind of don’t think too well.”

Residents in the area heard the shots as Wise and Belknap pulled the triggers on their high-powered rifles.

One of them called sheriff’s deputies, who in turn alerted a warden with the Fish and Wildlife department.

“It was not a real good spot to be doing what they did,” Kahler said.

A warden arrived as the men were field-dressing the elk, the sergeant said.

Wise was cited for shooting an elk without a permit, firing a gun before shooting hours and shooting from a county road.

The warden confiscated the carcass of the elk Wise shot. The meat was donated to a local mission.

Belknap was cited with shooting before hours and firing from a county road. He had an elk permit and was allowed to keep his bull.

All the charges are misdemeanors that carry fines and possible revocation of hunting privileges.

, DataTimes