CHRISTMAS VALLEY, Ore. — Six pronghorn antelope run down with a pickup truck on a roadway in Lake County on April 26 are the latest in a string of poaching thrill kills in Oregon. The driver, Michael Scott Phillips, 48, of Christmas Valley, told authorities that he did it because he hates pronghorn.
Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division (OSPFWD) Troopers discovered a grisly scene of five does and one buck pronghorn antelope, their carcasses strewn along Fossil Lake Road near Christmas Valley. The buck’s horns had been removed and taken as a trophy. One doe was eviscerated with a knife—her unborn fawn removed and placed on its mother’s carcass. May is fawning season for antelope in Oregon. Any pregnant does would have given birth within a month had they not been killed.
OSPFWD received the initial report of the crime through the Turn In Poachers (TIP) Line. The caller reported hearing a man bragging about accelerating his pickup to hit several pronghorns, which were bunched together in the middle of the road. The man said he left the scene to get a hamburger, then returned later to retrieve the buck’s horns.
Troopers served a search warrant on Phillips’ residence in late May. They recovered the horns and other evidence linking Phillips to the crime, according to OSPFWD Sgt. Lowell Lea. Phillips admitted that he accelerated to more than 60 mph to hit the antelope, and confirmed they were bunched together in the road. There was no evidence that he slowed down or tried to stop before striking the animals.
Phillips said he did it because he hates pronghorns, according to Sgt. Lea. Phillips was arrested on May 21. He is lodged in the Lake County Jail facing multiple charges including aggravated animal abuse, take/possession of antelope, and
