A Minnesota man voiced both remorse and a deep appreciation for Wyoming’s outdoors and conservation after he was convicted of shooting a moose he mistook for an elk in the Bighorn National Forest this autumn.
Jason van der Hagen, 45, of Willmar, Minnesota, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he wanted to apologize to the state of Wyoming, for mistaking a moose for an elk on the evening of Oct. 3 and shooting it.
That was all van der Hagen wanted to say in his interview, adding that he was “pretty transparent” about it in court. After a follow-up text message from Cowboy State Daily, van der Hagen clarified that he had a cow elk license, and the moose had no antlers. It was still a “stupid mistake,” he added…