A hunter who killed a cow moose Saturday when he mistook it for an elk faces a fine ranging from $100 to $1,000 and will have 20 points assessed against his hunting license.

Colorado Parks & Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said that the hunter, whom she described as “newer” to the sport and a graduate of the University of Colorado, self-reported the episode. The hunter’s name has not been released.

The moose was killed at about 8:45 a.m. Saturday near the Beaver Creek Trail in the Arapaho Roosevelt Forest.

Following Colorado Parks & Wildlife hunter education guidelines, Churchill said, “He field-dressed the animal to preserve the meat, tagged the animal so that others would note he was dealing with it and hiked the 3 1/2 miles out to self-report,” she said.

The wildlife officer wrote a summons for careless hunting. The rifle season for moose in Colorado ran from Oct. 1 to Oct. 14.

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