A grandfather, father and son from Chubbuck were all convicted of illegally killing elk near Arco in November 2021.

The grandfather and father both have previous convictions for violating Idaho Fish and Game rules dating back 27 years.

The three members of the Curtiss family reached plea agreements with Butte County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Stephens and the two older men pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor offenses in exchange for three felony counts against each man being dismissed, according to court documents. The youngest man pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor offenses and four felony charges against him were dismissed.

They all received similar court sentences in Butte County Magistrate Court last September. All three must pay a cumulative $6,000 in restitution, according to court documents.

Donald Curtiss, 73, of Chubbuck; his son Travis Curtiss, 47, of Chubbuck; and Travis's son Eben Curtiss, 21, a  student at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon; received suspended jail sentences, were ordered to pay restitution and court fees and their hunting and trapping privileges suspended.

Donald and Travis each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of hunting from a vehicle and to two misdemeanor charges of unlawful taking of wildlife. Three felony counts of wasting wildlife filed against each man were dismissed, court documents show. 

Travis Curtiss received a withheld judgement on the three misdemeanor charges. He was assessed $1,345 in court fees, sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended; and placed on probation for two years. His hunting and trapping privileges were suspended for 10 years. He was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Donald Curtiss was ordered to pay $1,345 in court fees, sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended; placed on probation for two years and his hunting and trapping privileges suspended for 10 years. 

Eben Curtiss pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of hunting from a vehicle and unlawful taking of big game. Four felony counts of wasting wildlife were dismissed. He was ordered to pay $880 in court fees, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and his hunting and trapping privileges were suspended for five years. He was also sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended.

Travis Curtiss has previous convictions for three Idaho Fish and Game violations: trespassing in 2019, exceeding the fish bag limit in 1998 and possessing fish of illegal size in 1996, according to court documents.

Donald Curtiss has previous Idaho Fish and Game violation convictions of fishing without a license in 2002 and in 2013 of hunting from a vehicle in a restricted area, failing to tag big game and destruction of Fish and Game property.

A nephew of Donald Curtiss, Tyrel Harris, 40, of Pocatello, was also with the men on the day the poaching occurred. He told officers he was there to haul gear because his uncle is old and has a pacemaker.  Harris said he didn't shoot a gun and was only along for the ride. He was not charged in the case but has two Fish and Game violation convictions from 2002 for hunting with an artificial light and aiding in the commission of a misdemeanor, according to court documents. 

The charges were filed after an investigation by Idaho Fish and Game officers who had received two separate reports that the Curtisses were chasing and shooting elk from a pickup near the Sunnybar Ranch on Nov. 1, 2021.

One witness told Fish and Game personnel he saw the men in a white Dodge pickup. Travis was driving, Donald was in the passenger seat, shooting at elk; and Eben was in the pickup bed shooting at elk, court documents state.

The other report was made via the Citizens Against Poaching tip line, reporting a similar scenario. That caller told officers he confronted the Curtisses about their behavior as they were leaving the hunting are. He told officers the driver apologized and drove off.

The Curtiss men were stopped by a Butte County sheriff's deputy on Nov. 1, 2021, after Fish and Game received the report of their illegal hunting practices and shared that information with law enforcement agencies in the area. They had two properly tagged elk in the pickup and were not detained by the deputy, court records show. 

Fish and Game Officer Steve Roberts went to the area where the men were hunting and found a dead yearling cow elk, a dead spike bull elk, a dead calf elk and the carcasses of two bull elk. The tenderloins of both bulls had been left to waste, the Fish and Game report states.

Fish and Game officers served a search warrant at Donald Curtiss's house on Nov. 2, 2021, and found butchered parts of two elk that had been tagged by Donald Curtiss and Eben Curtiss, along with two elk heads. The white Dodge pickup, owned by Travis Curtiss was also at the house.

Fish and Game officers used a metal detector to find bullets in the elk at Donald Curtiss's house and they found similar bullets at the scene where the animals had been killed and in some of the animals left to waste, court documents state. The bullets proved key in the case, Fish and Game officials said in a news release, because of their distinctive blue coating. 

When the search warrant was being executed, Travis Curtiss told Fish and Game Officer Joe Heald no one was shooting from the moving pickup. He then told Heald he was finished talking without his lawyer being present. And, Travis Curtiss told Don Curtiss to stop talking to Officer Corey Owens. 

Eben Curtiss was not in Bannock County when the search warrant was executed. Court records indicate he had returned to college. He called Fish and Game Officer Cody Allen on Feb. 2, 2022, about the incident, according to court documents.

"This story serves as a reminder that there are repercussions for committing wildlife crimes and that being a strong witness for wildlife can be the key component to solve a poaching case," Fish and Game personnel said in a news release.