This is in my neck of the woods. I actually ran into this young fella last November right after he killed a nice whitetail buck on a little section of state ground. It was actually the buck I was hunting for. I helped him gut it( easiest way in that situation for him to keep the cape) and drag it the couple hundred yards to his pickup.
His family has a far less than perfect reputation in the area, and no doubt has committed some game violations over the years. He absolutely trespassed to get to the elk that he killed.
HOWEVER, I have heard mention of a potential lawsuit by the landowner over the “trophy” elk, and I take as much issue with that as a person trespassing. It outrages me to see the number of comments supporting the idea that landowners own the wildlife, which is fundamentally against what this country was founded on.
Furthermore, “land locked” public land should simply not exist. If taxpayers are helping fund that land, they ought to have access. Period.