Wrong box, right address: How a poacher in Cottonwood, Idaho, helped catch himself

Carl R. Van Loon, of Cottonwood, Idaho, probably wishes he would have chosen a different box to dispose of the parts from the whitetail buck that he poached from his property in 2024.

The receptacle he used to package the bones and hide, before throwing it out on a backcountry road, had something investigators later used to solve the crime: a mailing label with Van Loon’s name and address.

That misstep resulted in a criminal plea agreement this past fall in which Van Loon, 68, admitted killing several deer and a moose from his property. As part of the agreement, Van Loon gave up his hunting privileges for life, was sentenced to several days in jail and was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines, according to court records.

The case started in early October in 2024 when a local rancher found a box of deer parts discarded next to a road in Idaho County, according to an news release from the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

The rancher was puzzled because his discovery came several days before the opening of Idaho’s general deer season that would have started on Oct. 10. He then reported the found deer parts to a local Fish and Game officer.

“Upon arriving at the box’s location, the officer discover(ed) that the box was covered in blood and contained a recently skinned deer hide, legs and hooves,” according to the release. “He also noticed that there was a local address printed on a shipping label on the outside of the box.”

The Fish and Game officer went to that address, which led him to Van Loon’s property that has a Cottonwood, Idaho mailing address. According to business documents, Van Loon’s property is located on Jack Pine Road, which is several miles south of Cottonwood and more than 20 miles west of White Bird Pass.

“Upon arrival, the officer met with the property owner,” the release states. “Van Loon initially denied that the deer parts and box belonged to him until he was shown with a shipping label with his own address on it.”

Van Loon agreed that the box came from his address but surmised that someone must have taken his box out of the Cottonwood dumpster, put the deer parts in his box and then dumped it. The officer noted that the dumpster in question was located more than 22 miles from where the deer parts were found.

“Van Loon continued to deny the accusation until the officer said that he believe that if he looked in Van Loon’s coolers, he would find deer meat from the same deer as the deer parts in the box,” the release stated. “Van Loon paused, then admitted to killing the deer 12 days before the season opened.”

During the initial interview, Van Loon asked the officer: “What do you care what I do on my own property? I’m not hurting nobody by grabbing deer and putting them in my freezer,” the report continued.

The officer seized the deer meat and antlers. He then issued Van Loon a citation for littering and unlawful possession of a deer killed during a closed season.

Then it got more complicated.

The following day, the same officer was on patrol in the area when he heard what sounded like a large-caliber gunshot coming from the direction of Van Loon’s property.

“After receiving reports from neighbors, who also heard the gun shot, the officer walked to Van Loon’s property boundary and found a hunting blind,” the report states.

In front of the blind the officer could see a salt block, a water trough, a feeder with hay and a bin containing what appeared to be a molasses-soaked mixture of oats and grains. Baiting elk and deer is illegal in Idaho.

Based on his observations, the officer obtained a search warrant to search Van Loon’s property. On that search, officers found multiple items used for baiting and several photos and text messages that Van Loon sent to friends documenting and commenting about multiple deer he had killed out of season, including a young bull moose.

“He deleted messages and indicated in the messages to ‘not speak of these animals to anyone,’” the report states.

Based on the evidence gathered at the scene, Idaho County prosecutors charged Van Loon with six felonies, nine misdemeanors and one infraction.

He later pleaded guilty to a single felony as part of a plea agreement.

Van Loon then appeared on Nov. 3 before Second District Judge Adam Green, who sentenced Van Loon on the single remaining charge related to unlawfully killing a moose during a closed season. All the deer-related charges were dismissed.

As part of the plea, Green sentenced Van Loon to begin serving 10 days in the Idaho County jail in at least two-day increments, according to court records. Green also ordered that the meat and antlers from the moose be turned over to the state.