A Washington man is set to appear in court for wildlife trafficking in the most brazen way possible.
Undercover wildlife officers caught 41-year-old Braden Takheal in the act following an extensive investigation that kicked off in 2019. An anonymous tip revealed that Takheal was knocking down elk in the pastures beside his home and selling them to a “Russian dude in Portland”.
Takheal was a member of the the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Having its own tribal wildlife management and hunting laws, he overstepped their boundaries by hawking illegal meat roughly 30 miles off the reservation. Court documents later revealed that Takheal was letting full bull elk go for $1,000 a piece and cows at a slightly discounted rate of $800.
Despite taking the animals on reservation land, according to the documents, he was not allowed to hunt in the fields and pastures from which he took the elk. Wildlife officials caught up to him on Facebook marketplace, getting his phone number from an ad for a Stihl chainsaw bar. As the exchange continued, the officers were eventually offered a piece of some real action when Takheal offered to sell a whole elk and 1,000 pounds of smelt for $2,200.
With penalties for trafficking the edible part of wildlife with a value of over $250 being a class B felony, Takheal could be facing upwards of 10 years in prison and $20,000 worth of fines.
According to WDFW Detective Lenny Hahn’s affidavit, Takheal had also raked in thousands of dollars by selling chinook salmon and sturgeon eggs from the Columbia River. Takheal is due in Kittitas County Superior Court on March 18 and should expect to bring his checkbook with him. And perhaps a change of clothes.
