OXFORD – Police are searching for whoever killed two domestic elk early Tuesday.

The killings happened after the fence enclosing the elk herd at a farm on Sam Hill Rowe Road was cut.

Police Sgt. Rickie Jack said a 550- to 600-pound cow elk worth $2,500 was shot in the hind quarters after it came through the hole in the fence and stood in the road. Once hit, the elk took off. It was found nearly dead about 100 yards away.

Jack said it appears the killers “realized they didn’t make a good hit” and waited for more elk to escape through the 4-by-6-foot hole in the fence.

Once several elk had gathered in the road, Jack said the perpetrators rammed their vehicle into the animals, killing one and injuring another.

The dead animal, a red deer-elk mix worth $1,500, was apparently loaded onto the vehicle and stolen, Jack said.

The crime was discovered by a Sun Journal carrier doing her paper route around 4 a.m. Jack believes the incident may have occurred a few hours earlier.

Large pieces of the vehicle’s grill were found in the road. Jack said it appears the vehicle was an older model Dodge pickup or minivan.

“This is a bad reflection on good hunters,” Jack said. “There is no sportsmanship in what they did.”

He said police are offering a reward to anyone supplying information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved.

Charges that could be filed include theft, cruelty to animals, criminal mischief, and shooting a domestic animal, Jack said.

“The more cooperative they are, the more it is going to benefit them.”

At the scene, Jack followed the trail of blood to the cow elk, who was suffering but still alive. He used his gun to put it down.

The Maine Game Warden Service and local Animal Control Officer Richard Larabbee were called to the farm, where brothers Rusty and Caldwell Jackson raise the herd of purebred elk and deer-elk crosses for meat and breeding purposes.

“We had 82, now we have 80,” Caldwell Jackson said.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, the fence had been fixed, but 13 of the elk were still at large. He said he’s worried the still-loose elk will be mistaken for deer and shot by hunters.

“None of us can figure this out. What were they trying to do?” Caldwell Jackson said. “It’s just crazy. Who in their right mind would stave up a vehicle to hit a deer?”

Anyone with information about the incident may call Jack at 539-4414, ext. 104. Jack said the identities of those supplying information will be kept confidential.

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