Idaho Fish and Game commissioner charged for shooting elk from truck

A commissioner with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is facing several misdemeanor charges for illegal wildlife hunting. Commissioner Brody Harshbarger, one of Idaho’s seven commissioners, has been charged with seven misdemeanor violations including multiple counts of unlawful taking of game animals, hunting without an appropriate tag, hunting from a motorized vehicle, shooting across a public highway, and trespassing on private property to hunt.

The charges stem from Harshbarger taking two bull elk without a valid tag in December 2025, according to news reports. The bulls were found on private property and a parcel of land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Court documents say Harshbarger was firing shots across a public highway from the driver’s seat of his pickup truck to take one of the elk. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of up to three years in jail, over $7,000 in fines, and revocation of his hunting license.

Laws about hunting apply to everyone, regardless of their position. John Talbott, the former director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, found that out the hard way in 1995 when a game warden found him fishing without a license near Rawlins. The incident ended Talbott’s 16-year career. He ultimately resigned in 1996, paid a $400 fine, and lost his fishing privileges for a year.

John Boughman, who served as director of Wyoming Game and Fish from 1996 to 2002, said commissioners are supposed to be “lay people” who direct and supervise the department, but they are unpaid and subject to the same hunting and fishing laws as everyone else. “Commissioners are lay people, but they can even do some things that some lay people will do, like shoot out of car windows or hunt in the wrong areas,” he said.

One of the bull elk allegedly taken by Harshbarger had no antlers, according to court documents. The other was a six-point bull, making it difficult to justify as a case of mistaken identity. Harshbarger, whose term as commissioner ends in June 2027, has pleaded not guilty and has a pretrial hearing set for April 29. A letter from the office of Idaho Governor Brad Little disclosed that Harshbarger has “voluntarily postponed” his duties as a commissioner while criminal proceedings are ongoing.