Elk killed in Carnation, poachers arrested for trespassing
Published 2:12 pm Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Two individuals were arrested Sept. 13 in Carnation after trespassing on private property to illegally hunt and allegedly killing a cow elk.
Law enforcement officers for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) picked up the individuals on Carnation Farms property, who were then cited and released. Their charges should be filed by the end of the month, according to North Puget Sound WDFW Captain Jennifer Maurstad.
Charges include unlawful hunting on, retrieving hunted wildlife from or collecting wildlife parts from the property of another (a misdemeanor) and hunting equipment restriction.
“The elk in this valley are precious, and we do all we can to protect them,” Maurstad said.
A Carnation-area landowner alerted WDFW to the situation. He said he became aware of the poachers after his home security camera caught footage of them trespassing on his property around 3 a.m. using “night vision gear.”
A Carnation Farms team member said he was alerted to the situation the morning of Sept. 13 when WDFW asked to enter the property. The team member noted that they are seeing a rapidly expanding herd of elk in the Snoqualmie Valley, and it is important that hunting be done legally and with care.
“[Poaching] makes it difficult for folks who are legally hunting these animals to track them because when poachers are on these properties in the middle of the night and hunting during illegal hours, the elk are more skittish during the season,” said the team member, who asked that his name be withheld out of concern for retaliation.
The team member cited the growing population of elk as one reason Carnation Farms removed its game reserve designation in 2024. Overpopulation, he said, can lead to greater issues such as chronic wasting disease in the elk, a fatal condition first detected in Eastern Washington in 2024 that can make elk riskier to hunt.
Now, the farm has a group of approved hunters that help manage the property’s elk population.
“When we have people trespassing on this property that aren’t beholden to the same rules as the people who are hunting legally, there’s a huge safety concern for my employees,” he said. “And it’s not just from an errant bullet or arrow, it’s from the individuals themselves. Anybody who is willing to trespass, who knows what else they’re willing to do.”
This is a developing story.
