Hope more states follow

[MuleyFever]

Poaching becomes felony in New Mexico | The Spokesman-Review

Would be good to see this spread to other states.

 

[4rcgoat]

The only problem I see with this is that the penalty is not nearly enough. They should at the very least triple both the jail time and the fine. They should not be allowed to hunt with any form of weapon. People who think they can kill an animal at any given time they please have some serious mental problems. We have seen this problem a time or two around this area as well, all i can say is the law better get a hold of them before I do.

 

[MTHunter20]

Yeah I'm all for this if, like mentioned above, they lose all hunting privileges as well. There's no excuse for poaching.

 

[UtahJimmy]

Revoking hunting privileges could easily be enacted by fish and game for convicted felons. This is a huge step in the right direction. Felons also cannot possess firearms. So their homes have to be void of all firearms.

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[seldomseensmith]

Glad to see NM leading in something. Poaching is taken as bit of a joke here. I know a lot of people with a bad attitude about it. It's typical local yokal, appreciate nothing type BS and a few examples of large penalties for such behavior will be helpful imo.

 

[Jauwater]

Yea I agree there should be a heavier penalty for poaching. I believe poaching, and animal cruelty charges should go hand, and hand. I feel like first time offenders shouldn't get a break on these issues either. Guy recently poached a deer in NC, and lost hunting privileges for two years. You might of heard about it, he implanted a much larger rack on the deer, and that's what brought the attention his way. Not long before that, Davidson College Students beat a goose to death with a golf club after luring it with bread crumbs. This was a fraternity initiation. First time offenders. Got charged with animal cruelty, and only got 100hrs community service. F'ing BS.

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[backcountry_hunter]

In the last year I've read about 6 or 7 states with pending law changes allowing their wardens/officers to enforce felony charges. I would anticipate as more states follow suit, it's going to become a national standard. The alarming part for me isn't that someone can now be charged with a felony for game and fish laws, but in virtually every state that was proposing to have felony game and fish violations, laws had been broken there so heinously that they were now considering the individuals should have been charged with felonies. More simply put, why are people poaching with so much greed now vs. say 20 years ago. I fear between facebook and everybody with $20K can have their own hunting show most of it is for the "trophy picture" but good grief.... some of these crimes have been downright unthinkable.

Growing up (a long time ago ) a few local people in the area poached to get themselves through winter. Everyone knew it but there was a certain level of acceptance.... I see people now poaching for vastly different reasons.

 

[SheepDogRob]

Revoking hunting privileges could easily be enacted by fish and game for convicted felons. This is a huge step in the right direction. Felons also cannot possess firearms. So their homes have to be void of all firearms.

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Here in Oregon, felons obviously lose the privilege of hunting with a firearm but can still hunt with a bow. Is that consistent with other states?

I'd be all for banning all hunting rights for these mouth breathers.


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[tipsntails7]

Here in Oregon, felons obviously lose the privilege of hunting with a firearm but can still hunt with a bow. Is that consistent with other states?

I'd be all for banning all hunting rights for these mouth breathers.


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It depends on how "firearms" are classified in each individual state. As obviously felons cannot handle or posses them.


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[kicker338]

Not wiled about coming up with stiffer penalties as it has the potential to backfire on hunting as a whole. Hunting is on a down hill slide as it is. Almost all states are losing hunter numbers without adding stiffer penalties while the anti hunter numbers look like they are going up. Not a good thing for us. I'm not at all trying to over look the TV show guys being caught breaking hunting laws but making too big a deal about these guys and asking for bigger fines,and other penalties because we don't like what the TV guys did can potentially scare new hunters out of hunting. I could go on and on about this but keep in mind there are bad apples everywhere be it hunting, fishing, camping etc. and to think stiffer laws will stop the bad guys without affecting the good guys, I think we better approach this with a lot of thought.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

Not wiled about coming up with stiffer penalties as it has the potential to backfire on hunting as a whole. Hunting is on a down hill slide as it is. Almost all states are losing hunter numbers without adding stiffer penalties while the anti hunter numbers look like they are going up. Not a good thing for us. I'm not at all trying to over look the TV show guys being caught breaking hunting laws but making too big a deal about these guys and asking for bigger fines,and other penalties because we don't like what the TV guys did can potentially scare new hunters out of hunting. I could go on and on about this but keep in mind there are bad apples everywhere be it hunting, fishing, camping etc. and to think stiffer laws will stop the bad guys without affecting the good guys, I think we better approach this with a lot of thought.

I'm not sure where to go with this... You can get a felony driving a vehicle but that doesn't seem to have deterred people from wanting to drive. If someone isn't going to hunt for fear of getting a felony I'm not sure that's someone we'd want as a hunter to begin with. As I understand it, this/these changes will only apply to "the worst of the worst". You won't (likely) be slapped with a felony if you have on the wrong amount of blaze orange or are 1/4 mile into a different GMU. These are being enacted to punish the most obvious, blatant offenders and for that I'm definitely in support. I do know there have been people that have poached because they knew, nothing serious could come from their actions.... hopefully this changes that mentality.

 

[1signguy]

I am all for more significant penalties for poaching except in situations where someone is trying to feed themselves or their family- I am not saying it is okay to ever poach but the authorities should have some discretion as to charging a trophy hunter versus a hungry person.

However, I don't see poaching as that big of a threat to wildlife and or wildlife areas in general. I Spent the last two weekends in the forest and the amount of trash hunters left behind this past Fall is just disgusting and disgraceful!!! IMO- litter is a far graver threat.

We all need to do a better job of policing ourselves and our fellow hunters to better follow "leave no trace behind" practices or we will loose our lands...

 

[Jauwater]

There absolutely should be leniency for people hungry and foraging for food. It's a god given right that no man should infringe upon. Discretion should be used in such cases. I agree with the past comment that we as hunters should be cautious about which laws we support. Once one law is changed or passed it opens the door for more laws to be changed or passed. Stricter laws could easily keep law abiding citizens out of the woods. Hunting is just a hobby to past time for some hunters. I have several friends that'll only hunt the innards of game lands in worry they'll have to chase they're deer down on someone else property. Add on some laws that may make them a felon due to ignorance of a particular area, then these people are staying home for now on. To much at stake at home to make a small mistake while enjoying your hobby then becoming a felon for it. Then we dwindle in numbers, and before you know it we've lost our backing, and public lands are being sold off to the highest bidder. How do we know if thats the angle their trying to play. It's fair enough that they say this law will be for the worst of the worst, but human discretion is wide window.

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[backcountry_hunter]

It's fair enough that they say this law will be for the worst of the worst, but human discretion is wide window

This is very true... but I'm guessing what will constitute a game and fish felony will be spelled out pretty clearly, just like all other felonies. There may even be a monetary value assigned. Most of what I've seen is minor infractions like cross tagging, accidental trespass, etc... are going to remain misdemeanors. From the little reading I've done on states looking to go this route, it will have to be a pretty serious crime to qualify as a felony which aren't likely to occur accidentally.

 

[Jauwater]

This is very true... but I'm guessing what will constitute a game and fish felony will be spelled out pretty clearly, just like all other felonies. There may even be a monetary value assigned. Most of what I've seen is minor infractions like cross tagging, accidental trespass, etc... are going to remain misdemeanors. From the little reading I've done on states looking to go this route, it will have to be a pretty serious crime to qualify as a felony which aren't likely to occur accidentally.

Yea man I'm all for it. I'd love to see the bad guys get the book. I don't wanna come off like I know what I'm talking about I haven't read anything on the article yet. Just an opinion really.

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[backcountry_hunter]

Yea man I'm all for it. I'd love to see the bad guys get the book. I don't wanna come off like I know what I'm talking about I haven't read anything on the article yet. Just an opinion really.

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I definitely see your point of view on the other side and share some of the same concerns... I just don't think that felony game and fish violations will be handed out lightly. Temporarily taking someones hunting/fishing privileges is a big deal, taking someone's firearm is even a bigger deal but essentially giving someone a lifelong black eye by writing felony poaching should only be reserved for the criminals. I've bumped into wardens in alot of different states and I can honestly tip my hat to most, if not all, for being very well rounded, respecful LEO's with overall good common sense. At present I do trust our G&F officers to make smart decisions and use discretion....

 

[Jauwater]

I definitely see your point of view on the other side and share some of the same concerns... I just don't think that felony game and fish violations will be handed out lightly. Temporarily taking someones hunting/fishing privileges is a big deal, taking someone's firearm is even a bigger deal but essentially giving someone a lifelong black eye by writing felony poaching should only be reserved for the criminals. I've bumped into wardens in alot of different states and I can honestly tip my hat to most, if not all, for being very well rounded, respecful LEO's with overall good common sense. At present I do trust our G&F officers to make smart decisions and use discretion....

I'll 2nd that. I have a few wardens on speed dial, within the counties that I hunt. They've always been great, and super helpful.

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[elkyinzer]

Anyone concerned this fits in with the Anti's agenda to humanize animals?

I mean a felony? I get it, there are some egregious poaching cases that seem to be on that level. Without reading into the details it seems this leaves some room for lower-level poaching cases to be charged as a felony.

It also seems to me we are getting awfully close to equating an animal's life to a humans here...slippery slope.

 

[Jskaanland]

I am all for more significant penalties for poaching except in situations where someone is trying to feed themselves or their family- I am not saying it is okay to ever poach but the authorities should have some discretion as to charging a trophy hunter versus a hungry person.

I think most states penalize harder for "trophy" animals.

 

[seldomseensmith]

Anyone concerned this fits in with the Anti's agenda to humanize animals?

I mean a felony? I get it, there are some egregious poaching cases that seem to be on that level. Without reading into the details it seems this leaves some room for lower-level poaching cases to be charged as a felony.

It also seems to me we are getting awfully close to equating an animal's life to a humans here...slippery slope.

It's theft of a resource.