Hunter Kills 3 Bighorn in Montana

[dotman]

For some reason I think it said he waited 30 years to draw the tag, but my memory isn't the best and I didn't go reread it.

 

[ChrisS]

I get shit from some of my friends for not taking whatever shot is presented to me in favor of taking the best shot possible, which lets a lot of animals walk. I have not sheep hunted, but if I'm taking the trip of the lifetime, I'm damn sure going to make sure what I'm shooting at and not just slinging lead. It's not duck hunting.

Good for him for self-reporting. Otherwise, some other sheep hunters would have found the carcasses and the internet would be in uproar for poachers abandoning high-value animals in the field.

He made a mistake and it cost a lot of money. If I ever sheep hunt in MT, I'll be double sure that I'm shooting one legal animal.

 

[realunlucky]

It did say he waited 30 years. Had it been a auction tag they would have swept it under the rug just like happened in Utah

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[durangobrad]

It did say he waited 30 years. Had it been a auction tag they would have swept it under the rug just like happened in Utah

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???

 

[Felix40]

I thought it was a little funny that the judge "allowed him to pay the fine in payments". Like no shit. He didn't just stop at an ATM and take out $32,750? I wonder what happens if he can't pay it? Could they take his house or put him in jail to make up for it? I know I wouldn't be able to pay it even if they did take my house.

 

[realunlucky]

I can't insert a link I guess. This past year the auction tag holder in Utah killed his bighorn on a unit that was closed to hunting. It wasn't his fault after all, the big one lived in a closed unit. Sorry for side tracking thread.


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[204guy]

Well that should pretty well clear up anymore self reporting of game violations in MT. I wonder what the punishment would have been had he not self reported and they were able to convict him of it. It doesn't read like it would have been anymore severe. Crazy.

 

[Frito]

I made a honest mistake hunting and self reported. I guess I was lucky it didn't involve sheep. I was treated with respect. I did pay my fine though with no other penalties although nowhere close to $32,000. It's unfortunate that this happened but I think after self reporting and paying $32,000 he's more than paid his penalty. My mistakes have made me born-again-careful.

 

[ChrisS]

Well that should pretty well clear up anymore self reporting of game violations in MT. I wonder what the punishment would have been had he not self reported and they were able to convict him of it. It doesn't read like it would have been anymore severe. Crazy.

From the article:

“The law says ‘shall,’ not ‘may,’ so that pretty much takes the discretion away from the judge,” Strine said. But he added that he could have suspended Fleming’s sportsman privileges for considerably longer than he did.

Basically, thanks to the zero-tolerance writing of the law, he couldn't do anything about the fine and the 30 months, but he could have taken his privileges for more if he wanted to.

The actual law is here:
87-6-413. Hunting or killing over limit.

(1) A person may not attempt to kill, take, shoot, or capture or kill, take, hunt, shoot, or capture more than one game animal of any one species in any 1 license year unless the killing of more than one game animal of that species has been authorized by regulations of the department.
(2) If a person is convicted or forfeits bond or bail after being charged with hunting or killing over the limit of:
(a) mountain sheep, moose, wild buffalo, caribou, mountain goat, black bear, or grizzly bear, the person shall be fined not less than $500 or more than $2,000 or be imprisoned in the county detention center for not more than 6 months, or both. In addition, the person shall forfeit any current hunting, fishing, recreational use, or trapping license issued by this state and the privilege to hunt, fish, or trap in this state for 30 months from the date of conviction or forfeiture unless the court imposes a longer period.
...
(3) A person convicted of unlawful taking of more than double the legal bag limit as described in this section may be subject to the additional penalties provided in 87-6-901 and 87-6-902.

87-6-907. Restitution for illegal killing, possession, or waste of trophy wildlife. In addition to other penalties provided by law, a person convicted or forfeiting bond or bail on a charge of purposely or knowingly illegally killing, taking, possessing, or wasting a trophy animal listed in this section shall reimburse the state for each trophy animal according to the following schedule:
(1) mountain sheep with at least one horn equal to or greater than a three-fourth curl as defined by commission regulation, $30,000;

I'm not sure this guy had a lawyer, but I sure hope so, I'm not one, but I'd pin any defense on the "charge of purposely or knowingly illegally killing" portion of that statute.

 

[dotman]

So what is the fine/penalty for killing a sub legal ram? I'm just wondering. I have watched that Wardens show and see the wardens issue minor citations for people being honest and up front, how is that fair to not isssue a full citation based on the law? I also have seen the wardens say I could write you up a ticket where you'll owe a big fine and lose hunting privileges but I'm going to give you a break and write up this lessor charge.

It's weird a warden has discretion for what they can ticket you with but a judge doesn't, if I was the hunter I would appeal the decision to a higher court and take my chances, pay much less for some high power law firm and probably get it thrown out or reduced.

I mean a drunk driver gets hit with a much smaller penalty even if they plead guilty.

 

[Drifli]

This sets a very bad precedent. The guy would have got the same fine if he would have SSS and got caught, instead he did the right thing and they threw the book at him. We all know they just set an example where more people will likely SSS when a mistake is made.

 

[oenanthe]

This sets a very bad precedent. The guy would have got the same fine if he would have SSS and got caught, instead he did the right thing and they threw the book at him. We all know they just set an example where more people will likely SSS when a mistake is made.

They didn't "throw the book at him". Take a look at the post by ChrisS. Looks like the offender could've gotten up to 18 months of jail time in addition to the fine and loss of hunting privileges.

 

[dotman]

They didn't "throw the book at him". Take a look at the post by ChrisS. Looks like the offender could've gotten up to 18 months of jail time in addition to the fine and loss of hunting privileges.

Yeah that's the one thing they didn't give him and I bet they wouldn't give that to a true poacher either, they through the book at him. Most high profile poaching cases were it was the intent end up in fine and loss of hunting privileges.

 

[dotman]

Wonder what happened with this guy, copied from link.

For example, last year in Glacier National Park, one poacher killed three bighorn sheep, and then pocketed $600 to $900 from trophy horn collectors for each head before special agents finally caught up with him.

Making a killing

Believe page 60 of the annual report is the conviction, $6500 federal fine and $3,334 state fine, 100hrs community service and 5 years probation/loss of hunting rights for killing three trophy rams and trying to sell them.

The Office of Law Enforcement Annual Report:2001 - Google Books

 

[martin_shooter]

While he acted correctly by turning himself in, he is still responsible for every trigger pull. There isn't and shouldn't ever be a case of an animal being 'accidentally shot'- especially as a pass through from another animal. All in all this is a bad situation that could have easily been avoided. As the article states, I'd bet he would do anything to undo 3 seconds of his life.

 

[wind gypsy]

As far as the worth of the animal goes - I'm sure it's worth quite a bit to the state with what, 30k+ applicants per year?