Rancher says elk shot just outside his property

BOISE – The eastern Idaho rancher whose farm-raised elk escaped near Yellowstone National Park said Monday that he will fight any charges that stem from a tussle with state Fish and Game officers last week.

Rex Rammell, owner of the Chief Joseph hunting reserve near Ashton, said he will plead not guilty if charged after an arrest for allegedly obstructing a peace officer on Friday.

The tirade against state sharpshooters who killed two of his elk cows was warranted because the officers took aim at the animals some 50 yards from his property, as they were ambling back to a catch pen baited with grain and molasses, Rammell said.

“They literally shot these elk with grain in their mouths,” he told the Associated Press. “They were pretty nasty to me, so I called them every name in the book. I said, ‘You’re not going take another of my damn elk in front of me,’ and I went and sat on that dead cow.”

Rammell was arrested Friday morning by Fremont County sheriff’s deputies, the sheriff’s office confirmed. He was booked and released on $300 bond.

A clerk in the Fremont County Prosecutor’s office said Monday that formal charges have not yet been filed, pending a review of the police report.

The arrest came after an outburst where Rammell acknowledged that he refused to get off the animal when ordered to do so by law enforcement agents.

For weeks, state and private hunters have been on the trail of elk that remain at large. A group of up to 160 animals bolted from Rammell’s private hunting camp near the Idaho-Wyoming border in August.

Last month, Gov. Jim Risch ordered an emergency hunt to kill the animals, to prevent them from breeding with wild elk or spreading possible disease among the native herds near Yellowstone.

Steve Schmidt, a Fish and Game regional supervisor based in Idaho Falls, said officers received permission to shoot elk that had gathered on private property near Rammell’s ranch.

The property owner did not want to allow the public on his land but invited Fish and Game officers to shoot the escaped elk, Schmidt said.

Schmidt said on Monday that at least 28 domestic elk and several other wild elk have been killed by public hunters and officials from Fish and Game and the state Department of Agriculture.

Officials drew blood from all of the elk and are awaiting test results for illnesses such as chronic wasting disease and brucellosis.

He said fall brings an elk rut and it is likely that specially bred domestic elk have mated with native herds – a longtime fear of wildlife purists.

“Being that bulls are particularly aggressive this time of year, I’d say it’s a good possibility,” Schmidt said.