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Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

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Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby Lefty » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 1]

Big game, illegal take poaching or fines what should the fine really be for different scenarios.

Years back I had a 14 year old student turn himself in for shooting two cow elk. He fired once. the cow was still there, fired again and she dropped. All excited first elk,.. and his second laying together. The judge gave him 200 hours community service. Defiantly unintentional

What about partying hunting? Thirty years back I heard a story of one guy near our camp shooting 5 bulls in a group for his party,..
Same area i n Montana a family hunted the area every year. The whole family hunted with 2-4 tags. I wasnt suppose to hear but one guy evidently had taken two big bulls ,,, never with a year he had a tag.
And how about the fellow that buys a resident tag on his grandmas home address.
Or the guy shooting elk from the combine
Or from the shoulder of the Highway. Or from the far side of the river.
Or 50 feet on private ground or another unit
Another guy tags your bear
shooting two minutes after legal shooting time or too early

Or the dad who kills the sons elk after the kid empties his gun and missed every time

I came out of a deep nasty canyon one time, the guys had the head of a nice buck,.. and the backstraps,.. After telling me the meat was all shot up I took a pic of them at their truck with their truck plate,..My local CO got a chuckle out of that one.
The talk round town, one farmer was gut shooting deer with a .17
Or the guy that scotch doubles one duck over the limit,
or doesnt tag and date the waterfowl in the freezer
claims the wrong unit on a cougar or wolf.
Wanton waste Only breasted his geese in Montana Or packed the head out and the meat was bad the next day

Plenty of situations out there were I feel most guys got off easy.
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby >>>---WW----> » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 2]

Lefty I don't know about your state but here in Colorado we have a program called Operation Game Thief. If you see something illegal you can call it in and the CPW is supposed to investigate. In many cases, you may receive a reward for reporting the violation.

Does it solve all of the problem? No! But it slows things down just because the violators know everyone is watching.
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby Lefty » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 3]

>>>---WW----> wrote:Lefty I don't know about your state but here in Colorado we have a program called Operation Game Thief. ,,,.

I think every state has something similar.

I use to live on the Brigham Front in Northern Utah. I was friends with the local CO Every so often guys would vehicle trespass and climb the mountainside of the winter range wildlife management area.
I could see most of the front from my living room window.Called on a truck, tearing up the mountian. The CO was so upset and shaking. He wanted to let the guys go.
I called a buddywho was our Chief of Police. All three had warrants. But werent charged.

the CO stopped by to check if I had pics of some bucks that had been poached. They went to prison and were let off of the poaching violations by the judge.

My question on this post is what is fair and appropriate or consequence .
It just seemed to me the student I had for accidentally killing two cows isnt the same violation as a dad who kills his sons elk, or the fellow party hunting without a tag or the guy that shoots a 360 bull 30 minutes after LSH.
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby Swede » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 4]

Lefty wrote:Or the guy shooting elk from the combine


I think every case has to be considered separately.
If a farmer carries a gun in his combine while harvesting grain, and fills his tag, it is ok with me. I don't see where that is a legal problem. He was not "pursuing or harassing" game with the combine. He saw an elk and shot it on his property. Now if he is shooting multiple elk, that is another issue. There are elk on a lot of ranches, and the ranch owner and others will shoot the elk. Often they see elk and start shooting. They don't quit until they run out of elk or ammunition. I have a problem with that, but all I know is what I am told about it. They are on private land and the game warden won't go there unless they have "probable cause."
Loggers carry a gun or guns to and from their job site. Occasionally they see game and get out and shoot it. I doubt they give any thought about not shooting from a road. They were not "pursuing game" per se, but were likely in violation for shooting from a forest road. I never ask, and don't care. What I don't like is hunters in pickups with camp chairs riding around patrolling for deer and elk. That is pursuing game illegally. On the other hand, if you and a buddy are driving back to camp and shoot a buck spotted along the way, I am jealous. :mrgreen: I guess the point is that details and subtleties make a big difference in how I see things. I don't like greed and laziness, but have no problem with the farmer on the combine getting lucky with what I call a drive by shooting.
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 5]

If you report a fish and game violation (that can be verified/validated) in Washington, the state gives you a big handful of preference points you can use for special permit applications. I have personally never came across a violation that I could report, and, have it validated. That said, my wife called me at work two falls ago and said somebody had shot a three point black tail, middle of the afternoon, right off the main hard ball less than a mile from our place. I actually "knew" this deer as I had seen it chasing a doe or two in a residence back yard over the previous week.... I figured he wasn't long for this world but did not think somebody would lose their mind and shoot it really, on the road. It was obviously shot at less than the required distance off a road, and, was on private property to boot..... The "hunter" shot it (probably out the window) and jumped out of their truck in an attempt to quickly dress it out and get it in the truck. My wife said that there were folks coming out of nearby residences heading toward the scene when she drove by. I told her to call the F&G and report it but when she did, she was informed that they had already received several calls. It's amazing what some will do to try and down one of these elusive black tails. It's certainly not worth the huge fine and loss of hunting privileges......
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby Swede » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 6]

RJ: Your story reminds me that when I lived near Winthrop Wa. A hunter passing by shot a nice 4X4 Mule deer in my yard early opening morning in about 1983. I went out to see what was going on and found two guys starting to gut it in my garden plot near my house. I ran them off and told them to gut it somewhere else. They had shot it from the highway. Definitely ill eagle.
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby Elkduds » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 7]

The penalties for poaching I read about seem extremely mild. Jail time is rare, fines are low, and courts seem to rely on loss of hunting privileges for 2-5 years as the most punitive penalty. WTF kind of penalty is losing license privilege for poachers who got caught hunting without a license? Confiscation of trucks, trailers, atvs, guns used in poaching seems like a good way for game agencies to recoup the cost of enforcement and investigation, and make the poacher hurt some more. Public service for poachers should be wildlife-related, IMO. In CO all poaching offenses are misdemeanors, even egregious ones like crippling and restraining wild lions until "hunters" get close to them. How is that not a felony?
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby DWBMontana » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 8]

I know poaching has been going on for decades if not centuries, but I believe it is getting worse, it comes down to respect. It seems more and more people have little if any respect for other citizens, or the laws we have, let alone game laws. It is a symptom of the break down of society. I could preach on, but I won't.
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Re: Elk poaching, hunting violations and fines

Postby Lefty » 02 19, 2019 •  [Post 9]

DWBMontana wrote:,,,,,,. It is a symptom of the break down of society. I could preach on, but I won't.

All part of the I want mine
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