Appeals court upholds convictions for illegal elk hunt

YAKIMA – A Washington appeals court has upheld felony unlawful hunting convictions for a Kittitas County landowner and the Yakama Nation hunter who shot several elk on her property.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported the charges against Cindy McMeans and Ricky Watlamet stem from a 2013 incident in which Watlamet shot four elk on McMeans’ property because the woman complained the animals had been grazing on her pastures.

As a tribal member, Watlamet had the right to harvest elk outside of legal hunting seasons, and he argued that he had religious grounds to shoot the animals.

But the appeals court rejected the argument, saying Watlamet had the option to exercise his right in locations other than McMeans’ property.