To me, this is the key paragraph...

"The situation would have been different if Mr. Deaton had contacted us immediately after the incident and turned himself in," added DelPiccolo. "We can work with people who immediately admit a mistake in the field, but the situation is always complicated when suspects leave the scene and try to hide their involvement."

Yep, if they fess up to what they did then they should get leniency. If they try to run and hide, throw the book at them.

Although I have not seen an elk in the wild, I have hunted moose on numerous occasions. How the heck does somebody mistake an ugly swamp donkey for an elk?

The antlers are so different that I can't really see it happening with a bull unless you're just shooting at most anything that moves. With the cows, though, they're similar enough looking that I can see it if you're in too much of a hurry and shoot without really being sure of what you're shooting at.

In this case it was a moose calf, so probably small and no antlers. I can kind of understand how someone looking for a cow elk might make the mistake, but you'd still have to be shooting without really being sure of your target.

But the facial features are nothing alike. I would still have a hard time believing a responsible hunter could make that mistake. Moose are very unique in the face. Maybe if it's head is in the bushes but you would have to see the head to determine bull or cow (depending on tag).

I think the key word there is "responsible." People who make this mistake are shooting without being sure of their target, which no responsible hunter would do.