Antler Dealer Busted

[SuperDUECE22]

Anybody else read this article?
Does the punishment fit the crime?
Thoughts ?

Antler Dealer Busted for Burying Shed Caches on Public Land Receives 5-Year Hunting Ban

The serial shed poacher has now been caught multiple times stashing illegally collected elk antlers on public land in Wyoming.

www.outdoorlife.com

US Fish & Wildlife Service press release:

Illegal Possession and Transportation of Elk Antlers | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

DENVER — Joshua Anders Rae, formerly of Jackson, Wyoming, pleaded guilty to illegally possessing and transporting 104 pounds of unlawfully taken elk antlers. Through a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Rae was sentenced to five years of unsupervised probation; a five year ban from the...

fws.gov

 

[JackOfAllTrades]

Anybody else read this article?
Does the punishment fit the crime?
Thoughts ?

Antler Dealer Busted for Burying Shed Caches on Public Land Receives 5-Year Hunting Ban

The serial shed poacher has now been caught multiple times stashing illegally collected elk antlers on public land in Wyoming.

www.outdoorlife.com

Clearly he didn't learn anything from his initial slap on the wrist, so it seems fitting to bring the hammer down this time. Lots of greed goes into sneaking onto the elk refuge to cut up and stache elk sheds to sell later on.

 

[UncleBone]

No fine this time?

 

[ODB]

Just another example of human nature at work. We can’t ever seem to learn to be free and moral.

 

[BigE]

Taking resources from public lands and turning it into a business. Bad behavior ensues. Where have we seen that before?

 

[elkyinzer]

Antlers should be illegal to sell, just like wild game meat.

And that should extend to trophy fees also.

It's the most harmful loophole in the "North American Model".

 

[WKR]

Taking resources from public lands and turning it into a business. Bad behavior ensues. Where have we seen that before?

Youtube and Instagram

 

[LostArra]

Felony conviction = no firearm ownership?

Taking away the hunting rights of a person who sneaks on to the National Elk Refuge at night to illegally collect and bury antlers seems ridiculous. Why would he worry about a hunting license? He committed these crimes for money. So punish him with heavy fines.

 

[Red Letters]

I imagine the issues in Africa and elsewhere with rhino horns, ivory, gallbladders etc started something like this. At this point we are semi fortunate that elk and deer lose their antlers every year. Greed and profit seem to have a much higher appeal than laws and fines aimed at detouring these activities.

 

[wmr89]

"five-year ban from the Nation Elk Refuge, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. He also lost his hunting privileges for five years and was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Wyoming Fish and Game Department" Additionally, he received a felony charge for violating the lacey act which will negatively affect him for the rest of his life.

Seems pretty harsh for caching antlers, but it is pretty simple to just follow the rules. This is his second time being caught, so almost certainly not his second time illegally caching antlers. So I would say the punishment is fair and hopefully a deterrent to others.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Beings he is a repeat offender I think the punishment should have been worse!

 

[Gutshotem]

My man is wasting his time making multiple trips at night, using horses and cutting up the antlers himself.

He needs to refine his business model ; pick a Soros city and go steal dog chews from a retailer and resell them. No hassle from LE, no loss of hunting privileges and definitely no felonies, easy peasy.

 

[nphunter]

I wish they would just implement very heavy fines and run cameras on all of the winter range and feed sites where all of these dumbasses keep sneaking in and illegally taking sheds. If this were the case it would be almost a non-issue, people have gotten away with it for years and now it's common practice to just disregard the closures and sneak in before the next guy does. Personally, I'm glad that they made an example out of this dude.

 

[Reburn]

I would have liked to see a year in the federal pen as well.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

The guy's a doofus. Not sure about the punishment being enough, seems he didn't learn the first time.

I think the big joke is folks giving antlers to their dogs to chew on. Great money maker for me, removing fractured and infected teeth.

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

seems pretty ambitious to me:

“Officers found 104 pounds of cut elk antlers inside his stock panniers that were determined to be from the hidden caches,” reads a press release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Officers later collected antlers from the remaining cache sites, which weighed an additional 410 pounds.”

wonder if all the additional cache sites belonged only to him...

 

[Ucsdryder]

I know guys don’t want to hear it and we don’t need more government, etc but this is why laws are written. Douche bags like him. Yep, he’ll break the law regardless, but

I wish they would just implement very heavy fines and run cameras on all of the winter range and feed sites where all of these dumbasses keep sneaking in and illegally taking sheds. If this were the case it would be almost a non-issue, people have gotten away with it for years and now it's common practice to just disregard the closures and sneak in before the next guy does. Personally, I'm glad that they made an example out of this dude.

I’d LOVE to see Colorado increase the penalties and then start to plant horns with some kind of tracker. Start hitting these douche bags in the pocket, then publicize the hell out of it.

 

[Marble]

I used to run a Bait car program for stolen cars, be pretty funny to see a GPS get put in an antler and someone get busted later. I don't' think it's logistically feasible for several reasons but it would make for some good entertainment.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I used to run a Bait car program for stolen cars, be pretty funny to see a GPS get put in an antler and someone get busted later. I don't' think it's logistically feasible for several reasons but it would make for some good entertainment.

I mean, why can’t we have a YouTuber sensation that’s a LEO busting douche bags!

 

[Marble]

I mean, why can’t we have a YouTuber sensation that’s a LEO busting douche bags!

I could just imagine the drama...it would be a whole new thing!