“Huntress” charged with several wildlife crimes

[Rich M]

Same as a long line of online and famous personas.

 

[Capn]

The videographer we use cut his teeth freelancing for hunting shows. The stories are horrendous. The amount of unethical and sometimes illegal behavior that goes into these tv shows is mind blowing. It's all ego driven, too, because very few actually make any money at it.

 

[*zap*]

huntress

 

[Cowbell]

I've felt this way ever since I worked for "Dr. Deer" in the 80's and saw the direction the hunting industry was going. It didn't align with my personal or professional views toward wildlife, so I parted ways and found another job.

I have never understood the respect for that guy - a joke

 

[Newtosavage]

I have never understood the respect for that guy - a joke

I was his lead research tech for 2 years and drove him all over the SE U.S. to speak at events. I have nothing personal against him, but his views on wildlife and particularly the commercialization of deer - including the promotion of high fences - didn't align with my personal views. When I saw him fabricate a hunting video in order to sell a game call (Haydel's grunt tube) that was it for me. I was out. He's a very intelligent man, but he just cares too much about things that don't really matter as far as I'm concerned.

 

[TheTone]

He shot a wolf he could have tagged with his elk tag (apparently legal in Idaho), thought he missed, then went to purchase a wolf tag. The next day he found the wolf and tagged it with the wolf tag (that he didn’t have when he shot it) to avoid having to go get another elk tag.

My timeline may be a bit off but that’s the gist. It may seem minor, but he didn’t have the tag when he shot the animal. Doing the right thing only when it’s convenient doesn’t say much about one’s character.

I wonder if all the people he was with, including site members, would have the same story?

 

[qwerksc]

Hush! All this gritty talk about being in elkshape, might bowmar all the meateaters out of the rokslide.

 

[jlaner0408]

I’d love to see a diagram of both convicted and accused poachers still operating in the outdoor space, cross referenced to a list of sponsors and companies that have these clowns as staffers. It would be a tangled mess, but interesting to visualize nonetheless.

 

[hutty]

posted 12 August 2021 17:16 Hide Post https://pinedaleroundup.com/ar...018-faces-19-charges Some more info on charges from local press. 'Huntress 2018' faces 19 charges By: Joy Ufford, [email protected] - Updated: 6 days ago Posted Aug 5, 2021 SUBLETTE COUNTY – If a hunter posts self-congratulatory photos on Facebook with an elk, moose, wolf, deer or bear taken in a questionable hunt, a wildlife investigator might be calling one day. After a multiyear investigation that spanned western states and Facebook pages, Melanie M. Peterson, of Merna, is charged with 19 misdemeanor violations of hunting regulations. Peterson and her husband Kirby own and operate Timberline Lodge and Big Country Outfitters at the edge of the Wyoming Range. The alleged violations resulted from an investigation into nonresident hunts Peterson arranged and guided in 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018, court records show. Peterson is listed on the lodge’s website as a “seasoned guide and outfitter.” She is also known for competing in – and winning – the title of Extreme Huntress 2018 in an international women’s competition that tests outdoor skills, fitness and marksmanship. Charges The charges include seven counts of taking game without a license or during a closed season, two counts of taking a furbearing animal without a license and two counts of guiding without a professional license. As a guide or outfitter, Peterson is also charged with eight counts of failing to report the violations, according to the case filed July 27 in Sublette County Circuit Court. Penalties recommend jail time and fines – and the first seven require suspensions of hunting privileges for at least five years, according to records. She was licensed as a professional guide during the calendar years of 2009 to 2011 and 2013 through 2020 but her application and payment dates have varied each year, according to the file. Peterson’s arraignment will take place in Circuit Court on Monday, Aug. 9, at 11 a.m. Investigation With a team behind federal and state search warrants from 2017 to this past spring along with phone and in-person interviews and close scrutiny of texts and records, Wyoming Game and Fish Investigator Dustin Kirsch provided a 50-page affidavit detailing alleged violations. The affidavit includes many references to interviews, texts, emails, Facebook Messenger accounts, state records and “metadata” hidden in photos and videos. The charges are grouped around separate hunting trips when Peterson allegedly allowed clients to shoot several buck antelope, badgers, a black bear, a bull elk and a bull moose without a license. Specific hunts For example, on Oct. 8, 2011, Peterson allegedly helped a hunter take a buck antelope without a license. Later that month, she allegedly killed and used her license to tag an elk for the hunter, another violation. She is also charged as a professional guide or outfitter for failing to report the 2011 violation. On Sept. 10, 2014, Peterson allegedly guided another hunter to take an antelope without a tag, failed to report it as required and did not have her professional license to guide him, the affidavit says. The same charges result from a similar antelope hunt on Sept. 26, 2016, but Peterson had her guide’s license at that time, it says. On June 3, 2017, Peterson allegedly provided unlicensed guide services to two black bear hunters. On Sept. 21, 2017, she allegedly let a hunter kill a badger, regulated as a furbearing animal, without a license and the next day, allegedly guided the same man, without a tag, to take a black bear. On Oct. 25, 2017, a client shot a badger without the required furbearing license, it says. Peterson failed to report any of these violations, according to the affidavit. On Sept. 27, 2018, with the Roosevelt Fire beginning to take hold in Hoback Basin, Peterson allegedly allowed a hunter without a tag to kill a buck antelope. As the fire grew much larger, Bridger-Teton National Forest officials closed off access roads and deer hunting, which affected plans and communications, Kirsch reported after interviewing Peterson and some of her then-clients. On Oct. 19, 2018, she allegedly allowed a hunter to kill a bull elk and the next day, guided the man to take a bull moose without a license. She is also charged with not reporting these violations. Confusions Hunters told investigators that Peterson often said she had an extra antelope tag they could use and that they did not realize badgers were regulated as furbearing animals. A couple said they could not fill out the tags they did have so Peterson reportedly offered to let them kill a different species, the affidavit says. One hunter said he bought a black bear tag online with his cell phone after he spotted a bear and then shot it after getting a tag number; he did not realize he needed to have it on his person when he killed it, it says. Another hunter with a deer license – who said he took an antelope, instead – is not even listed as a client, according to Kirsch. One man said in his previous hunts, outfitters took care of all of his required licenses; several wanted deposit money back for hunts that did not take place, according to the affidavit.

 

[*zap*]

^ driven by $.

 

[Sled]

I’d love to see a diagram of both convicted and accused poachers still operating in the outdoor space, cross referenced to a list of sponsors and companies that have these clowns as staffers. It would be a tangled mess, but interesting to visualize nonetheless.

Careful what you wish for. We did this at work one year but instead of poachers and sponsors it was workers and the ladies. A lot of lines intersected and surprised a few folks. Of course you'd probably get fired for something like that now but it sure was an interesting map to look at.

 

[Billy Goat]

Careful what you wish for. We did this at work one year but instead of poachers and sponsors it was workers and the ladies. A lot of lines intersected and surprised a few folks. Of course you'd probably get fired for something like that now but it sure was an interesting map to look at.

You will have that on big jobs.

 

[qwerksc]

Ego is the gateway drug

 

[Cowbell]

I was his lead research tech for 2 years and drove him all over the SE U.S. to speak at events. I have nothing personal against him, but his views on wildlife and particularly the commercialization of deer - including the promotion of high fences - didn't align with my personal views. When I saw him fabricate a hunting video in order to sell a game call (Haydel's grunt tube) that was it for me. I was out. He's a very intelligent man, but he just cares too much about things that don't really matter as far as I'm concerned.

Yes I have seen his influence in Texas and Oklahoma in both real estate and hunting. Intelligent but bad for ecosystems and natural animal management.

 

[JeffRaines]

Maybe if we stop making a game of killing animals some of this bullshit would stop.

End the record books
End the reality TV
End the endorsements
End the social media

In short:
De-Monetize
De-Glorify
De-Publicize

You may have heard that sentiment before.

Honestly the best thing that could happen for hunting - make it a “woke” thing to stop the promotion of it - “cancel” hunting media.

YouTube, IG, Facebook, tiktok etc bans all hunting related media… that’s a lot of incentive to act like a shithead gone. When you’re no longer earning imaginary internet points maybe some of these bozos will just quit hunting altogether and leave it to the guys who truly enjoy doing it… and maybe some of them will change their tune and see it for what it really is.

I know, it’s a pipe dream.

 

[z987k]

I kind of like the trophy destruction we have in some areas. Keeps it to people trying to feed themselves/families and hunting for the right reason.

 

[Rich M]

Careful what you wish for. We did this at work one year but instead of poachers and sponsors it was workers and the ladies. A lot of lines intersected and surprised a few folks. Of course you'd probably get fired for something like that now but it sure was an interesting map to look at.

I'd like to see it - either they play straight up or they don't.

Most guys could care less, but it would be interesting to see how bad these guys actually are. And I'd want to see the guys who plead off "feed muh family" and get off the poaching & trespassing charges too.

YouTube, IG, Facebook, tiktok etc bans all hunting related media… that’s a lot of incentive to act like a shithead gone. When you’re no longer earning imaginary internet points maybe some of these bozos will just quit hunting altogether and leave it to the guys who truly enjoy doing it… and maybe some of them will change their tune and see it for what it really is.

Sounds good to me. Lotta money in this stuff tho.

 

[wytx]

I've felt this way ever since I worked for "Dr. Deer" in the 80's and saw the direction the hunting industry was going. It didn't align with my personal or professional views toward wildlife, so I parted ways and found another job.

So was that during Kroll's infamous knife hunt ? Curious if you grad from SFA ? SFA '87 here.

 

[Newtosavage]

So was that during Kroll's infamous knife hunt ? Curious if you grad from SFA ? SFA '87 here.

SFA '92 here. I started in the fall of '88. nah, not his infamous knife hunt. He was shilling for Haydel's when they came out with their first deer call and reenacted his "Boggy Slough monster" (guided, high fence) hunt and tried to pass it off as if it was the actual hunt, with him sitting at the base of a tree. LOL That was it for me. I took a job with Monty the next week and never looked back. Best decision I ever made in my career.

 

[devildog.34]

NM rule is 48 hours for bears and cougar

NM rule is 2 day