A Larimore man is accused of shooting two moose south of the Grand Forks County town, the state Game and Fish Department says.

Robert Sather, 28, is being charged with two counts of illegal taking of game, authorities said Friday. Gary Rankin, a game warden based in Larimore, said a tip from a citizen led to Sather.

Sather could not be reached for comment on Friday. A telephone number for him could not be found.

He faces a $4,000 fine and two years in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor charges. A Jan. 14 court date has been set.

Rankin said the bull and cow were shot with a rifle about 50 yards from a township road near Kempton on Nov. 22. A calf that was with the moose was not harmed and should survive without its mother, he said.

Rankin called the killing senseless. "This whole thing is sad. The calf is fine - it was a spring calf and by this time of year it should be weaned anyway."

Rankin said Sather was driving along the township road with another man on the night of the shooting.

"It was very close to dark, they saw a moose and one man made a statement that he'd sure like to have some moose meat," Rankin said. "The driver, Sather, pulled over and started shooting."

Rankin said a blood trail showed that the cow moose wandered about 70 feet after being shot. "The bull appeared to have dropped right where he was shot," he said.

A passer-by found the dead moose about 15 hours after the shootings, the game warden said.

"The meat appeared to be OK," he said. A local farmer used his tractor to load the dead ungulates on a trailer. The carcasses were taken to a meat processor.

Meat from the moose was given to two charities that paid about $400 to have the animals processed, Rankin said.