Major MT wildlife investigation

[katqanna]

Final suspect sentenced in major wildlife investigation

The final person involved in a major poaching case was sentenced in Flathead County Justice Court November 1, ending the investigation and prosecution of nine young men who illegally shot 15 deer and an elk.

Region One FWP Game Wardens and USFWS Refuge Officer Kevin Shinn joined efforts to investigate the illegal harvest of potentially 29 deer and one elk in 2013 and 2014. Officers were able to gather enough evidence to file charges on 15 of the poached deer and the cow elk. Violations included hunting game animals during a closed season, using artificial light, waste of game, unlawful possession of game animals, violations of commission rules and regulations, and littering. The majority of the suspects were high school students under the age of 18 at the time of the incidents.

The majority of the animals were shot and killed in the Flathead Valley at night with the use of headlights and/or spotlights during the summer and fall months outside of the general big game hunting season. The cow elk was unlawfully killed at Lost Trail Wildlife Refuge, a deer was drug behind a pickup back to their camp and left to waste in the Red Gate area, four whitetail bucks were shot and left to waste in the West Valley area and multiple deer were also shot and left to rot near Creston. Several of the suspects travelled to Liberty County in Eastern Montana during the youth hunt of 2014 without a parent or adult and shot a trophy class whitetail buck with the use of headlights and a flashlight after dark. Several of the individuals were also involved in a littering case where they launched a snowmobile off of a cliff in the Red Gate area and left it.

The evidence collected from the field investigations and the interviews with the subjects led to the issuance of multiple citations. There was a total of $16,425.00 in fines and restitution and 47 years loss of hunting/fishing/trapping privileges...

 

[beginnerhunter]

So 47 years for 9 guys. So roughly 5 years each. Not enough. We're not talking prison time. No reason to let them off that easy given the severity and number of offenses.

 

[Marshian]

Agreed, it's BS.

 

[shawfish]

Should be they forfeit firearms, hunting/fishing for 5 years, no ATV's, and they all must work 30 days or 240 hours public service for each year they've lost their hunting/fishing privileges or go to jail for equal time. So for 5 years equals 5 months public service (preferably wildlife restoration) or 5 months in jail (and they still lose all for 5 years). They need to learn to respect the outdoors, fellow Americans, and themselves.

 

[MooseCaboose]

I understand everyone's frustration but I don't see jailing people and confiscating their property commensurate with game crimes. Higher monetary penalties and longer suspension of hunting privileges would be a better deterrant.

 

[Bowhunter65]

Stupid teenage boys, I blame the parents, what is wrong with todays world is the values being taught at home.

 

[MNElkNut]

I agree, longer loss of hunting privileges, large fines, and confiscation of all of the equipment used in the poaching (including every vehicle used) should be a bare minimum. Then, they should be forced to do a conservation project on each piece of land they poached on.

 

[406LIFE]

Stupid teenage boys, I blame the parents, what is wrong with todays world is the values being taught at home.

I absolutely agree that this is true.

Also, I think this is far too light for something so egregious. Dragging deer and leaving them to rot is such an abuse of wildlife.

 

[COEngineer]

It's not just a wildlife crime, this type of behavior reflects a total disregard for all rules, laws, wildlife, the land, and all the rest of us who own that land and wildlife. A couple thousand bucks each and a few years that they can't hunt legally?? Their parents paid the fines without blinking an eye and they weren't hunting legally to begin with!! Total waste of tax payers dollars to prosecute these yahoos. And since they were minors there will be no record to follow them. Wow, total fail in my eyes.

 

[katqanna]

One of the sections of information I am curious about with the Game Warden Citation request is the judicial end of things... How many had loss of privileges? For how long? Fines? Dismissals?

Just doing a quick sort of the nearly 25,000 citations, 1105 resulted in a suspension of license for 5 years or less. There were a small amount above, and some listed as 999 months? I need to call them and see what this represents, there are a variety of violations in this category, not sure if this represents lifetime. There are some warrants and felonies associated with that subsection, but there is also possession of alcohol and insufficient personal flotation device, so who knows.

47 - less than a year
215 - 12 months
1 - 14 months
126 - 18 months
578 - 24 months
9 - 30 months
51 - 36 months
5 - under 48 months
26 - 48 months
2 - under 60 months
45 - 60 months