Topgun 30-06
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LANDER – On December 15, 2014, a father and son from Hudson and Riverton plead guilty in the Ninth District Circuit Court in Lander to the wanton destruction of two, two-point buck mule deer. The incident occurred on October 16, 2014, along the Loop Road above Lander, Wyoming.
Robert E. Cherry, 59, pled guilty to two counts of wanton destruction of a two-point buck mule deer, and two counts of the waste and abandonment of those deer. Joshua E. Cherry, 22, pled guilty to being an accessory to the wanton destruction and waste of both deer, a crime which carries the same penalties as the principle charges.
The defendants were each ordered to pay $4,160.00 in fines and restitution for the illegally taken mule deer. The Cherry’s hunting license privileges were revoked for the next 24 years in Wyoming and 43 reciprocal states.
On the morning of October 16, Robert E. Cherry made the decision to kill two, two-point buck mule deer on public land near Lander. Robert and his son, Joshua E. Cherry, then decided to leave the animals and allow them to go to waste. The deer carcasses were discovered later that day by the Lander Game Warden and the intense investigation that followed led him to the Cherry’s by the next morning.
“This may be a case of someone misidentifying a two by two buck mule deer in a three-point or greater area and not being sure of their target,” said Lander Game Warden Brad Hovinga. “The real problem here is the decision that was made after the mistake happened by choosing to abandon the deer and allow the meat to go to waste.”
Hovinga, continued: “A true sportsman would contact a game warden after making a similar mistake to resolve the issue and they would likely end up with a much smaller fine, or even a warning. The deer meat certainly would not have gone to waste.”
Robert E. Cherry, 59, pled guilty to two counts of wanton destruction of a two-point buck mule deer, and two counts of the waste and abandonment of those deer. Joshua E. Cherry, 22, pled guilty to being an accessory to the wanton destruction and waste of both deer, a crime which carries the same penalties as the principle charges.
The defendants were each ordered to pay $4,160.00 in fines and restitution for the illegally taken mule deer. The Cherry’s hunting license privileges were revoked for the next 24 years in Wyoming and 43 reciprocal states.
On the morning of October 16, Robert E. Cherry made the decision to kill two, two-point buck mule deer on public land near Lander. Robert and his son, Joshua E. Cherry, then decided to leave the animals and allow them to go to waste. The deer carcasses were discovered later that day by the Lander Game Warden and the intense investigation that followed led him to the Cherry’s by the next morning.
“This may be a case of someone misidentifying a two by two buck mule deer in a three-point or greater area and not being sure of their target,” said Lander Game Warden Brad Hovinga. “The real problem here is the decision that was made after the mistake happened by choosing to abandon the deer and allow the meat to go to waste.”
Hovinga, continued: “A true sportsman would contact a game warden after making a similar mistake to resolve the issue and they would likely end up with a much smaller fine, or even a warning. The deer meat certainly would not have gone to waste.”
