Location: Esther Island- Prince William Sound 
 
 Type: Unlawful Take- Bear and Cubs 
 
 Dispatch Text: 
 
 Corrections: The defendants were not indicted but were charged by information. Only Andrew Renner was charged with evidence tampering. 
 
 On 8/6/2018, Andrew Renner, 41 of Palmer, and Owen Renner, 18 of Palmer, were charged by information on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from a poaching incident on 4/14/2018. A. Renner and O. Renner shot and killed a sow black bear, along with its two cubs, in its den on Esther Island in Prince William Sound. The bears were a part of a USFS/ADF&G bear study. As a part of the study, the sow was collared and a motion activated game audio/video camera was set up at the den site. The video shows A. Renner and O. Renner skiing up to the den and then O. Renner firing two shots at the denning sow. A. Renner then kills the shrieking newborn bear cubs and discards their bodies away from the den. Two days after the animals were killed, A. Renner and O. Renner return to the kill site to pick up the shells and to dispose of the dead bear cubs. On 4/30/2018, A. Renner brought the sow black bear skin and the collar to ADF&G in Palmer and reported he killed the animal near Granite Bay in Prince William Sound on 4/14/2018. He further reported that while he realized after shooting it that the sow had teats, no cubs were present or located. The vessel, vehicle used to facilitate the hunt, and hunting rifles were seized during the investigation. Charges against the men include Unlawfully Take Female Bear with Cubs, Unlawfully Take Bear Cub x 2, Possess/Transport Illegally Taken Game x 3. A. Renner was additionally charged with Tampering with Physical Evidence, Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and Unsworn Falsification in the Second Degree. 

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 PALMER — A father and son from the Matanuska Valley are accused of illegally shooting a sow black bear and its two newborn cubs in a den, then trying to cover up their actions without realizing a game camera was running the whole time. 
 
 Andrew Renner, 41, and Owen Renner, 18, were charged this week with felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the mid-April poaching incident on Esther Island in Prince William Sound, according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch Wednesday. 
 
 The charges were filed Monday in Anchorage District Court, records show. 
 
 An attorney for Andrew Renner said he hadn't seen the charges and couldn't comment. 
 
 The bears were part of a U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game study, and the men's activity was captured by a motion-triggered game camera, troopers say. The sow was also collared. 
 
 A series of 30-second video clips from the camera provided investigators with evidence for their case, court documents show. 
 
 One clip shows both Renners skiing near the den on April 14 and then noticing the sow, according to charging documents filed in the case. 
 
 Owen Renner shoulders his rifle and fires at least two shots at her, according to sworn summary of an Alaska Wildlife Troopers report filed by Assistant District Attorney Aaron Peterson. "Cubs begin shrieking in the den after the initial shots are fired." 
 
 The men listen for several minutes before realizing the cubs are making the sounds, the document says. They move closer and Andrew Renner, just a feet away, takes aim through his rifle scope and fires several more shots, killing the newborn cubs. 
 
 "Andrew Renner is captured on video saying 'It doesn't matter. Bear down,' " Peterson wrote. 
 
 The pair drag the sow from the den and see the collar, the document says. Renner can be heard saying, "I'm gonna get rid of these guys" while tossing the carcasses of the cubs onto the snow outside the den. 
 
 He disappears with the cubs while his son waits at the den, the document says. 
 
 The next clip shows Owen Renner saying, "We got the collar off," and his father responding, "We're gonna skin it that way," pointing away from the den, the document states. The younger man agrees," saying, 'They'll never be able to link it to us.' " 
 
 They butchered the sow, put the meat in game bags and skied away, according to the summary. 
 
 The camera also captured the men returning to the den site two days later to retrieve the collar, pick up spent shell casings and discuss disposing of the bear cubs, the document says. One of the men says he's going into the den to "make sure there aren't any little parts." 
 
 They put the cub carcasses in a small transparent bag and skied away with them, the document says. 
 
 A U.S. Forest Service employee reported the deaths of the sow and cubs to Alaska Wildlife Troopers on April 23. That's when troopers recovered the camera. 
 
 The sow was one of 20 fitted with collars for a three-year study that started in 2016, according to Fish and Game. The study by the department and Chugach National Forest came in response to concerns about declining numbers of black bears in Prince William Sound. 
 
 There is a legal, registration permit black bear hunt for the area from September into June. 
 
 On April 30, Andrew Renner brought the sow bear skin and collar to Fish and Game in Palmer and said he'd killed it near Granite Bay, troopers said. He also said that, while he realized after shooting it the sow had teats, he didn't see any sign of cubs. He is also accused of falsifying the document by saying he shot the bear when his son was seen doing it, and not describing the kill as an "illegal take." 
 
 Investigators seized a boat, vehicle and hunting rifles, troopers said. 
 
 Misdemeanor charges against the men include unlawful take of a female bear with cubs, unlawful take of bear cubs, and the possession and transportation of illegally taken game. 
 
 Andrew Renner was charged with tampering with physical evidence, a felony, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor — his son was 17 at the time — and unsworn falsification.
– On Esther Island in Alaska, a motion-detecting camera was set up in a bear den as part of a joint three-year study between the US Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. What that camera captured has now led to felony and misdemeanor charges against a Palmer father and son, who authorities say shot dead a sow black bear and her two just-born cubs, then tried to cover it up once they saw the mother bear was collared, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Per court documents, Andrew Renner, 41, and Owen Renner, 18, were charged after video clips showed them skiing past the bear den on April 14, when the sow caught their eye. Per an Alaska State Troopers dispatch, Owen Renner then shot at the mother bear twice, and when the baby bears started "shrieking," Andrew Renner shot and killed them. Additional clips are allegedly said to show the Renners skinning and butchering the sow for meat, discussing getting the collar off her, and Owen Renner declaring, "They'll never be able to link it to us." The men are also reportedly seen coming back to the site two days later to pick up empty shells and retrieve the cubs' bodies. Troopers say later that month, Andrew Renner brought the bear skin and collar to ADF&G in Palmer and said he, not his son, had shot the sow, and that once he saw she had teats, he looked for but didn't see any cubs. It's illegal in Alaska, except at certain sites, to take cubs or sows with cubs. Andrew Renner now faces felony charges of tampering with evidence, as well as unsworn falsification and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (Owen Renner was only 17 in April). The men also face misdemeanor charges, including unlawful take of a sow with cubs and the cubs themselves.