CLEARFIELD – The last of three men charged with illegally killing one of the largest elks in the state was sentenced in Clearfield County Court.
Jeffrey Scott Bickle, 49, 117 Dublinwood Dr., Bellefonte, pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful kill/take big game-closed season and several summaries.
He was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 30 days to six months in jail and one year consecutive probation. He was fined $10,450 and he must pay more than $3,000 in restitution.
In October, Frank Gordon Buchanan, 25, 224 Moose Run Rd., Bellefonte, who was identified as the shooter, pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful killing or taking of big game and summaries. Â He was sentenced by District Judge Jerome Nevling to 90 days to 18 months in jail. The third co-defendant, Cody Allen Lyons, 20, of Milesburg, pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced to 30 days to six months in jail and one year consecutive probation.
Buchanan shot the animals while sitting with his co-defendants in a vehicle at night in Karthaus. If the largest of these elk had been killed legally, he would have ranked as the third largest bull elk ever killed in Pennsylvania, according to a previous article.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 9 a concerned person contacted the Pennsylvania Game Commission to report a dead bull elk near Karthaus. A Wildlife Conservation Officer investigating the case found the elk had been illegally killed at a proposed site for a generation plant on the River Hill Power property. The antlers were missing. It was determined the elk was just over two years old and was killed on Sept. 8.
On Sept. 15, an officer returned at night to the site to patrol the area where elks could be heard bugling. He saw a vehicle that he watched for a while before he heard a gunshot. The officer activated his emergency lights and instructed the occupants of the vehicle to get out of the vehicle and get on the ground.
Lyons, who was in the backseat of the vehicle, stated that it was Buchanan, who shot at the elk. Bickle was the driver.
Another officer appeared on the scene and found a rifle, a spotlight and a silver canister lying behind the patrol vehicle. The caliber of the rifle matched the evidence in the previously killed elk case. A search of the vehicle uncovered a hand saw that was contaminated with elk hair.
When he spoke with the officer, Buchanan admitted to firing at the elk. In an interview at the police station, Buchanan also admitted to killing the elk on Sept. 8. Later he provided the antlers of that animal to the officers.
The game commission officers returned to search the area on Sept. 16 where they found a large bull elk lying dead in a field. This bull’s rack exceeded the 400-inch class of the Boone and Crockett scoring measurement system. While gathering evidence at the scene, officers found another elk bull about 350 yards away.
Buchanan confessed to killing all three elks and said his intention was to sell the antlers on e-bay. He also admitted he had thrown the rifle from the vehicle window before the officer approached the vehicle.