Trophy hunter appears in court after killing beloved Ellensburg elk 'Bullwinkle'

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- Tod Lyle Reichert, 76, sat quietly in the Kittitas County courtroom next to his attorney Tuesday. It has been more than six months since he shot and killed a beloved elk in the Ellensburg area known as Bullwinkle.

The trophy hunter who's currently fighting cancer is also facing charges of hunting big game, which is a class C felony in Washington.

"A lot of people are very, very upset," said Leon Mankowski. "It's a crime, plain and simple. These animals belong to all of us. Not just this rich bugger."

In an interview on his 5-acre property outside of Ellensburg, Mankowski told Q13 News heard the shots that day in early December and drove his pickup to the site where the massive bull, known to many as Bullwinkle, lay dead.

 

The small herd of bachelor elk hangs out and jousts on Leon Mankowski's acreage outside of Ellensburg.

State game agents say Reichert shot the elk in an open field on private property that is closed to big game hunting. This part of the Kittitas Valley is mostly alfalfa and timothy hay fields. Area residents say Bullwinkle and his small herd had grown accustomed to humans.

"I'm guessing he got 50, 60 feet away from that elk when he shot him," says Mankowski. "Now that's hunting, in the middle of a field? That's not hunting. That's murder. He killed one of our favorite animals around here. Disgusting is what that is."

76-year-old Tod Lyle Reichert sits in Kittitas County Court

The attorney for Reichert says his client was within the law, having paid more than $50,000 for permits to hunt and kill elk.

"The one thing I want to make clear," said Spokane-based attorney Stephen Hormel, "is that Game Department was contacted in this case."

Hormel said the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife gave permission over the phone for Reichert to shoot Bullwinkle, but that agency personnel changed their minds after the fact.

"I believe, to tell you the truth, that this is a case of miscommunication and that Mr. Reichert didn't do anything wrong."

Hormel was in court Tuesday to get the presiding judge to throw out an pretrial condition of release that Reichert not hunt until this legal matter is resolved.

Kittitas County Lower District Court Judge Jim Hurson said that since the responsibility of knowing when and where a permit is valid rests solely with the hunter, he'd continue the hunting ban for Reichert.

A jury trial is expected in August. If convicted,  Reichert could face additional fines and a 10-year ban on all hunting.