$2500 for a Wolf. Poacher gets off light...

[JoseCuervo]

Banner Summit Wolf Shooter Caught, Fined
Man Confesses Following Media Reports
Posted: Sept. 20, 2005

A Boise man has paid a $2,500 fine for illegally shooting a gray wolf near Banner Summit earlier this summer. Terrance Hunter, 48, confessed to the crime after reading accounts of the incident in the newspaper.
Personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S Forest Service, and Idaho Fish and Game worked together to bring the case to a successful conclusion.

On June 21, two Idaho tourists were driving south on Highway 21 near Banner Summit when they rounded a corner and encountered a man standing in the middle of the road pointing a rifle in their direction. They watched the man shoot at a gray wolf standing in the roadway between their vehicle and the shooter. The witnesses immediately reported the incident to authorities, provided a detailed description of the shooter, his vehicle and the camper trailer he was towing.

The dead wolf was recovered the following day, just off of Highway 21 at the location described by witnesses. After an extensive search of the surrounding area, no vehicles were found matching the description provided by witnesses. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a news release the following day asking the public for help in locating the individual involved in the shooting. Service law enforcement agents received a call from Hunter’s attorney shortly afterwards, and Hunter was later interviewed, admitting that he shot the wolf.

One item of note mentioned by Hunter during interviews with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents was that he claimed the animal he shot was a coyote. While coyotes are an unprotected species that can be taken at any time, wolves are a protected species. With wolves now found throughout the state, hunters can no longer assume that a dog-like animal encountered in the wild is a coyote and should be certain of their target before shooting.

 

[TheTone]

I thought wolves wouldn't live near roadways, let alone a highway

 

[jmcd]

$2500 is b.s. He should get a marksmanship badge.

 

[Moosie]

I know alot of Org's that would cover his fee

But a Poacher is a Poacher. I think people that shoot wolves infront of others or aren't smart enough should get a fine. (Man, that statement will come back to bite me when I get caught some day )

 

[Ithaca 37]

A Boise man has confessed to illegally shooting a wolf near Banner Summit north of Stanley this summer.

Terrance Hunter, 48, was fined $2,500 — far less than the $100,000 maximum penalty for killing a threatened species — because of his confession and contention that he thought he was shooting a coyote. Coyotes are not protected and are legal to shoot.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials are warning hunters to make sure they know what their target is when they put a gun to their shoulders.

"Wolves are found in a lot of parts of the state now," said Evan Oneale, a Fish and Game spokesman in Nampa. "Hunters cannot assume that any dog-like creature is a coyote anymore."

Biologists say there are at least 525 wolves in Idaho. They were reintroduced in 1995. Federal officials say they have reached their recovery goals for wolves but cannot remove them from the threatened species list until Wyoming writes an acceptable plan. Idaho and Montana have completed approved wolf management plans and currently have less restrictive rules for protecting wolves.

Hunter was one of two men who confessed and were fined for shooting a wolf in Idaho this year. Ken Lawson, of Dana Point, Calif., was fined $1,000 in August for killing a wolf in June on Brush Creek near the Middle Fork of the Snake River.

Lawson's fine was not near the maximum amount because he was quick to contact Fish and Game officers after he discovered he had shot a wolf instead of a coyote.

"We take enforcement of the Endangered Species Act very seriously, but you've got to be realistic," said Scott Bragonier, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent in Idaho Falls. "If a guy turns himself in, you have to treat him accordingly."

A Lewiston man paid $21,000 after he admitted killing a wolf near Elk River in 2004. This is the highest fine since reintroduction. Robin Shafer, 46, confessed only after federal and state agents began investigating a tip. They found a wolf carcass with the tail missing near Shafer's hunting camp, and they found what appeared to be the tail while interviewing Shafer at his home.

Hunter's case, settled in August, was different than most because of witnesses. Two tourists saw a man shoot a wolf on Idaho 21 near Banner Summit June 21 and reported the incident to authorities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put out a news release and a story appeared in the Idaho Statesman, on television and radio.

Hunter said he shot quickly and did not know that he had killed the animal he thought was a coyote, said his attorney Randall Barnum of Boise. When he saw news reports of the incident, he thought it must be him, and he was referred to Barnum.

"Mr. Hunter wanted to clear his conscience and find out if he was, in fact, responsible," Barnum said.

Barnum called Fish and Wildlife agents, and Hunter was later interviewed, admitting he shot the wolf. Barnum said the fine was fair since his client cooperated.

"It's always best to accept responsibility and admit your mistakes," Barnum said.

Hunters should be able to avoid the legal problem, Oneale said.

"If you don't know you're safe to shoot, just watch the animal and leave it at that," he said.

 

[Michaelr]

should have been a reward instead of a fine.

 

[Bambistew]

note to self... pick up poached wolf and dispose of someplace else...

 

[schmalts]

I commend him for thinning preditors, but he is an idiot to do it from a road.
Wisconsin is having a banner year for hunters having thier best friends shredded to pieces (literaly) by the wolves. Just saw a picture today of a guy holding what was left or 2 of his dogs that they were running very close to town. They are everywhere and its time to thin them back into the boonies, and keep them there.

 

[MarvB]

This was last week from the AP

By Charles E. Beggs
Associated Press —
SALEM, Ore. — The final plan for managing protected gray wolves that migrate into Oregon will prohibit ranchers from killing wolves that attack livestock and will not include compensation for losses to wolf attacks.

The state Fish and Wildlife Commission had included compensation and authority for killing wolves in the management plan adopted in February, pending approval by the Legislature needed to change state law.

But lawmakers failed to agree on those two provisions, and bills to make the changes went nowhere. So the commission intends to remove them from the plan at a Nov. 4 meeting.

Wildlife officials say what remains is a solid plan, while cattle ranchers say it does nothing for them when the federal government has the final say, anyway.

The gray wolf is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, as well as under the state's equivalent law. The wolf-management plan sets a goal of seven breeding pairs in Eastern Oregon.

There have been no confirmed recent sightings of gray wolves in Oregon, said Craig Ely, wolf-plan coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Between 1999 and 2000, at least three wolves made their way from Idaho into Oregon. One was hit by a car, one was shot, and one was captured and returned to Idaho. Experts say it is just a matter of time before a pack takes up residence in Oregon.

The proposed compensation fund and right-to-kill provisions of the plan "were about getting some additional tools into landowners' hands," Ely said.

The rest of the wolf plan stands, he said, because it did not require legislative endorsement.

Under present law, wolves cannot be killed except in self-defense or by wildlife managers. Ranchers must contact federal authorities if their livestock is attacked and wait for an agent to decide if wolves were responsible.

Even if state law had been changed to give ranchers authority to kill wolves, federal law would have banned it until the animals' protected status was downgraded from "endangered" to "threatened."

Without the change in state law, Ely said, livestock owners will be prohibited from killing wolves even if federal protection is reduced. Such a downgrade could occur once enough breeding wolf pairs are established in the state.

Sharon Beck, a past president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association and La Grande-area rancher, said the organization opposed the right-to-kill provision because it put too many restrictions on livestock owners.

The measure would have allowed ranchers to kill wolves only when caught "in the act" of killing livestock. It would have been meaningless for ranchers whose herds can be scattered over hundreds or thousands of acres, she said.

Beck said many ranchers believe the state's general wildlife laws allow them to kill any species damaging their livestock, including wolves. But she said she expected a legal battle over the issue because of the federal protection for wolves.