Eastern WA man sentenced for illegally selling up to 42 elk carcasses

A Yakima County man has been sentenced to jail and must pay $7,000 in restitution for illegally selling what could be as many as 42 elk carcasses, according to the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Braden F. Tahkeal, 52, was sentenced in Kittitas County Superior Court to two weeks in jail on one felony count of first-degree unlawful wildlife trafficking. He has the option of home confinement rather than jail under court guidelines.

In 2020, Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife officers, working with special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, received a tip from that Tahkeal was illegally selling elk.

Reports suggested he was selling trafficked elk in Vancouver and Portland, Ore., through online black-market chat groups.

Wildlife officials were told he was illegally hunting in the orchards and fields near his house on the Yakama Indian Reservation, reported the Ellensburg Daily Record.

Black market prices can range from $800 to $1,000 for one elk, with large bull elk with trophy antlers selling for far more, according to Washington Fish and Wildlife.

Detectives found a post by Tahkeal on Facebook Marketplace and went undercover to buy a skinned, field-dressed and headless elk carcass from him at a truck stop in Ellensburg in March 2021, said the Daily Record.

He also showed the detective a photo on his phone of seven bull elk in the back of his Chevrolet Colorado pickup, according to an investigation report obtained by the newspaper.

“Unregulated economic markets for game and non-game wildlife have lasting negative impacts, as traffickers target specific types of wildlife at times when they are most vulnerable,” Brad Rhoden, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department police captain, said in this week’s release about the sentencing.

The restitution that Tahkeal must pay includes $2,000 to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and $5,000 to Washington Fish and Wildlife Department.

This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Eastern WA man sentenced for illegally selling up to 42 elk carcasses."