Alaska moose poacher fined $100,000, sentenced to jail

ANCHORAGE — An Alaska man who poached three moose and left most of the meat to rot has been sentenced to nine months in jail and fined more than $100,000.

Rusty Counts, 39, of Anchor Point, shot the moose near his community over two weeks in September. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 6 to 21 misdemeanor wildlife counts and violations, including wanton waste, exceeding bag limits and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Hunting regulations near the Kenai Peninsula community require moose to have antlers measuring 50-inches wide to be harvested. None of the three moose had the required spread, said Aaron Peterson, an assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case.

“The working theory is that he realized they were sublegal and decided not to stick around to salvage the meat,” Peterson. He called the case one of the most egregious poaching events ever seen by Alaska state wildlife troopers.

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