Idaho Fish and Game commissioner charged with poaching bull elk

An Idaho Department of Fish and Game commissioner has been charged with multiple game violations after he was allegedly involved in the illegal killing of two bull elk in the county he represents, according to court records.

Upper Snake County Commissioner Brody Harshbarger was charged March 6 with seven misdemeanor violations: three counts of unlawful taking of game, one count of hunting without a proper tag, one count of hunting in a motor vehicle, one count of shooting on a public highway and one count of trespassing on private property to hunt.

Each charge carries a penalty of up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. Some of the charges also carry a possible $750 fine and revocation of his hunting license for one to three years.

Harshbarger denied all accusations. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but the governor’s office sent a letter to the Idaho Statesman saying Harshbarger had decided to “voluntarily postpone” his duties as commissioner.

In a probable cause statement, Idaho Fish and Game Conservation Officer Bryce Fogleman said in an affidavit that he and another conservation officer responded to a Citizens Against Poaching call about “a group of individuals” shooting at deer near the Spring Hollow boat ramp in Fremont County on Dec. 20, 2025. A Fremont County sheriff’s deputy also responded, the affidavit said.

Fogleman said the caller to Citizens Against Poaching reported a dead six-point bull elk on his property across the street from the shooting scene.

The conservation officer said Harshbarger and another man shot at the deer and killed a six-pointed bull on private property and an antlerless bull on nearby Bureau of Reclamation property. The other man faces the same charges as Harshbarger, except for a count of hunting with a motor vehicle.

The court document stated that Harshbarger fired from the driver’s seat of his vehicle along Spring Hollow Road.

Harshbarger had filled out his deer tag the previous weekend and did not have a valid tag, Fogleman testified. The other man had a tag that did not apply to Bureau of Public Reclamation property, and neither had a permit to shoot on private property, leading to trespassing charges.

The probable cause affidavit said there were “deep hoof prints” in the private landowner’s field that were “consistent with the bull elk being shot and starting to run after being struck by the bullet.” Blood was also found on the property.

Fogleman testified that neither man contacted the landowner for permission to take the deer from private property, in violation of Idaho law that requires hunters to make a reasonable effort to retrieve harvested game.

It is not clear from court documents which man is suspected of killing the animals. The Fremont County Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a request for more information Friday.

Harshbarger “advised” the other man on where he could and could not shoot and helped round up the animals, Fogleman said in his statement. The criminal complaint against the commissioner states that he illegally took big game and/or helped someone else do so.

Fish and Game Commission It consists of seven commissioners from each county appointed by the governor to four-year terms and confirmed by the Idaho Senate. Harshbarger, whose term ends in June 2027. a region It covers part of eastern Idaho and is centered in Idaho Falls.

The commission establishes hunting and fishing regulations, establishes seasons and budgets, and oversees other administrative duties of the department.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Roger Phillips told the Statesman in a text that the department had no comment: “Because this is an active case and the commissioner is not an employee of the agency. He is a governor appointee.”

The March 10 letter to Harshbarger from Gov. Brad Little’s Chief of Staff Zach Hauge thanked Harshbarger for meeting with the governor’s office and “notifying us of your willingness to voluntarily postpone your commission duties until the charges recently filed against you are resolved.” A spokesperson for the governor’s office forwarded the letter to the Statesman on Friday in response to a request for comment.

The letter also stated that the governor’s office would reconsider Harshbarger’s commissioner status once the case is concluded. A pretrial conference is scheduled for April 29.

This isn’t the first time a top Fish and Game official has been accused of misconduct. In 2010, former Fish and Game Director Cal Groen Cited for trespassing While hunting near Elk City. And in 2018, Southwest Regional Commissioner Blake Fischer He resigned due to ‘intense criticism’ After a hunting trip to Africa, he took a photo with a “baboon family” he shot there.