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GRAYS HARBOR, Wash. - A Grays Harbor man has been sentenced to the longest prison sentence related to big game charges in the past decade. A judge resentenced him this week following violations of the conditions of his previous release.
Richard Lored Pratt will now serve 116 months in prison related to a 2023 elk killing spree near Aberdeen, Washington. The months will be served concurrently.
Pratt will also pay roughly $10,000 in fines for the following crimes. Attached are the months he is sentenced to prison for each charge.
- Felony unlawful hunting of big game. (Class C)68 months
- 68 months
- Felony unlawful possession of firearms used in a first degree felony. (Class B)116 months
- 116 months
- Gross Misdemeanor for wastage.364 days
- 364 days
What makes a big game kill a first degree felony?
"An individual is guilty of unlawful hunting of big game – first degree when 'The person hunts for, takes, or possesses three or more big game animals within the same course of events,' defined as a big game 'spree killing'." according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The backstory:
Back in Jan. 2023, WSDW reported receiving calls from a private logging company about their employees finding multiple dead elk on the property. Investigators determined the elk were shot with a high-powered rifle.
About 10 months later, a man was caught breaking into the same area with rifles in hand by a WDFW officer. One of those rifles was a match for the one used in the elk killing spree earlier in the year.
Pratt eventually would plead guilty. He was sentenced in November 2025 to a mental health sentencing alternative. However, he failed to maintain requirements set by the court for this sentencing release.
So, he has now been resentenced to the harsher terms and faces the longest such sentence related to big game killing in the state in the past 10 years.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.