Washington Hunter
Well-known member
August 09, 2007
Display included names of community members who killed 4 elk illegally in 1996.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was told to leave the Owyhee County Fair on Tuesday after a state conservation officer started setting up a display on poaching, which involved local families.
Fish and Game was approved as a vendor and was planning a Citizens Against Poaching display at the fair in Homedale.
"They (Fish and Game representatives) were asked to leave shortly after they arrived," Evin Oneale, spokesman for Fish and Game, said Wednesday. He said apparently someone at the fair saw something they didn't like.
The Citizens Against Poaching display contains information on four big bull elk that were taken illegally in Owyhee County in November 1996 and the names of local people that were involved.
That's what David Rutan, chairman of the Owyhee County Fair Board, and other board members though was inappropriate.
"They had the names of the people on it," said Rutan, "They paid their debt to society. We didn't want to drag the families through it again."
The display also includes rifles, animal mounts and other information involving poachers in other cases.
In the Owyhee case, the hunters illegally used lights to shoot the elk at night on Juniper Mountain. Later, with the help of three others, the poachers moved the elk from Idaho to Oregon and put Oregon game tags on them. One of the elk taken at the time would have been the third-largest elk shot in Idaho if it had been hunted legally.
Tuesday was the first time Fish and Game planned to set up its CAP trailer at the Owyhee County Fair.
The conservation officer, whose patrol district is Owyhee County, wanted to be more community-minded, Oneale said.
Rutan said the fair board was under the impression that Fish and Game was setting up a display for kids.
Rutan said some of the parents of kids coming to the fair were involved in the case.
"It's 11 years old . We've dealt with it and put it in our past," he said. "That's the bottom line."
Pete Zimowsky: 377-6445
Display included names of community members who killed 4 elk illegally in 1996.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was told to leave the Owyhee County Fair on Tuesday after a state conservation officer started setting up a display on poaching, which involved local families.
Fish and Game was approved as a vendor and was planning a Citizens Against Poaching display at the fair in Homedale.
"They (Fish and Game representatives) were asked to leave shortly after they arrived," Evin Oneale, spokesman for Fish and Game, said Wednesday. He said apparently someone at the fair saw something they didn't like.
The Citizens Against Poaching display contains information on four big bull elk that were taken illegally in Owyhee County in November 1996 and the names of local people that were involved.
That's what David Rutan, chairman of the Owyhee County Fair Board, and other board members though was inappropriate.
"They had the names of the people on it," said Rutan, "They paid their debt to society. We didn't want to drag the families through it again."
The display also includes rifles, animal mounts and other information involving poachers in other cases.
In the Owyhee case, the hunters illegally used lights to shoot the elk at night on Juniper Mountain. Later, with the help of three others, the poachers moved the elk from Idaho to Oregon and put Oregon game tags on them. One of the elk taken at the time would have been the third-largest elk shot in Idaho if it had been hunted legally.
Tuesday was the first time Fish and Game planned to set up its CAP trailer at the Owyhee County Fair.
The conservation officer, whose patrol district is Owyhee County, wanted to be more community-minded, Oneale said.
Rutan said the fair board was under the impression that Fish and Game was setting up a display for kids.
Rutan said some of the parents of kids coming to the fair were involved in the case.
"It's 11 years old . We've dealt with it and put it in our past," he said. "That's the bottom line."
Pete Zimowsky: 377-6445
