Montana Bighorn Poached

[kiwi hunter]

my reading spells that he had to pay restitution also(might of been 20k)

 

[BigHornRam]

Why I think changing the law to allow pickup heads to be possessed and plugged was a bad idea...

There was concern that shit like this would happen after changing the law. Here it is.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Doesn't take many "bad apples" to really put the hurt on a limited resource like bighorn rams.

There was a good reason for the law in the first place, and because some feel they have to possess a dead head, rather than just leaving them lay, it opened the door for this type of thing.

It will happen again...and again...and again.

BTW, I agree that it would be nice to be able to pick up and keep one that died from natural causes, its not worth enough to me to be able to do so, to change the law and immediately start seeing an uptick in this type of chit.

The only reason that ram died was because there was a legal loop-hole for that poaching SOB to try to worm his way around the law.

Law needs to be changed back, IMO.

I don’t know that I disagree with you. It was just nice to pick up the head and get it plugged rather than have to walk away from it.

 

[Losing_Sanity]

The ability to get a plug legitimizes it, and makes it able to be displayed, showed off, transported and I believe transferred/sold.

True, it also gives people a way to cover their tracks and have personal gain in the process. It also lead to a conviction. I think there was some reasoning in the law when it was created.

As I said before, I don't know if it's good or bad. And my point is, people make the decision to do bad things. We can't blame the law. If the law has flaws or is not what we really want or need, we should change it. But we shouldn't blame the law for bad actors.

 

[rtraverdavis]

$4k isn’t enough.

$30k isn’t enough.

To poach means that you choose any animal that you’d like and kill it.
The privilege to do so legally is for sale in Reno every year.
The price of the prior year’s auction tag +25% would be a good start for all poaching offenses.

I like this logic a whole bunch. What are people willing to pay to kill any sheep they want? Then that’s your fine. Plus the 25% for being a dick.

 

[Oak]

Colorado allows only plugged rams to be sold. You may legally pick up a deadhead in Colorado, but CPW will only plug legally harvested rams. I think Wyoming's law is similar to Montana's. Is sheep poaching a big problem there? I haven't heard much on the subject.

 

[TheTone]

Pickup sheep in Idaho are required to be plugged but can’t be sold. I do know you can sell a pickup ram in WY

 

[JLS]

Anyone who doesn't believe the ability to pick up dead heads, regardless of species, provides an easy cover for poached animals needs their head examined. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to see it illegal across the board, period.

 

[406LIFE]

Why I think changing the law to allow pickup heads to be possessed and plugged was a bad idea...

I absolutely agree.

 

[geetar]

10 year suspension and $4000 fine. You can kill a couple of them in the time it takes to draw a tag and for way less than it costs to buy a hunt. That light sentence probably does more to encourage than discourage poaching.

 

[npaden]

my reading spells that he had to pay restitution also(might of been 20k)

From the article "$4,000 of fines and restitution". The way I read it is that the $4,000 was the total paid and that included both fines and restitution.

This is a head scratcher to me. Didn't the guy that accidentally shot 2 rams a few years back that self reported get fined $30,000? But someone who lies about it and gets caught gets fined $4,000?

 

[Nick87]

Anyone who doesn't believe the ability to pick up dead heads, regardless of species, provides an easy cover or poached animals needs their head examined. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to see it illegal across the board, period.

Agreed.

 

[406LIFE]

From the article in the Helena IR. "The sheep in question was estimated at 8 ½ years old but did not meet measurements to qualify for the record book under Boone and Crockett." So I am assuming it didn't qualify as a trophy under MT law? I don't know. Just speculating.

I am curious about the fine as well. Bighorn Sheep are trophy animals and don't have a qualification like deer, elk, and antelope do. I will follow up on this for sure.

 

[appaloosa]

I often wonder if someday, in the distant future, rams become so rare and valuable that they will have to hire armed guards to stand watch over them (maybe, at least, observers to monitor them)? Much like the military efforts to protect rare and endangered wildlife in Africa. Just extrapolating based on their current population trajectory and the corresponding exponential growth in value.

 

[rwc101]

I couldn't believe it was legal to take a bighorn deadhead when I read the story. Seemed like a really, really bad idea, and I'm glad much more knowledgeable people feel the same way.

 

[Sytes]

A rare tag worth the poach (criminal rationalized "logic") for the likely chance one's not caught while p/u deadheads are legal...

 

[BigHornRam]

I'm all for bringing back some old school justice on this one.
Drag him 5 miles behind a horse naked through the prickly pear.

Anyone else want to poach a ram now?

 

[Drummond33]

I agree that the fine is shockingly light. How about fining him whatever the previous year's governors tag went for....

 

[rjthehunter]

10 year suspension and $4000 fine. You can kill a couple of them in the time it takes to draw a tag and for way less than it costs to buy a hunt. That light sentence probably does more to encourage than discourage poaching.

Like you said it definately encourages more poaching.

I like this logic a whole bunch. What are people willing to pay to kill any sheep they want? Then that’s your fine. Plus the 25% for being a dick.

Agreed. Now to a poacher, a sheep tag only costs 4k instead of 30 to 40k if you go to Canada. They don't give a shit about losing their "privelage to hunt" they do it illegally anyway.

That'd be like giving a drug dealer a small fine and saying you lost your privelage to sell drugs... They don't care, they're doing it illegally anyway...

I'd like to see jail time and at least 30k fine asking with lifetime suspension of hunting rights. Then you're him up and let the hunt talkers have some time with him

 

[Losing_Sanity]

Like you said it definately encourages more poaching.

Agreed. Now to a poacher, a sheep tag only costs 4k instead of 30 to 40k if you go to Canada. They don't give a shit about losing their "privelage to hunt" they do it illegally anyway.

That'd be like giving a drug dealer a small fine and saying you lost your privelage to sell drugs... They don't care, they're doing it illegally anyway...

I'd like to see jail time and at least 30k fine asking with lifetime suspension of hunting rights. Then you're him up and let the hunt talkers have some time with him

Yup...

I'd like to see that SOB become someones sex slave in prison for about 10 years... But, sometimes I just think funny.