New Low for California

[805Bowhunter]

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article235777222.html

I know some people fairly close to the situation and said that he shot the mountain lion as it was very near children and the lion would not leave the area after repeated attempts to scare the cat off.

 

[jspradley]

Jesus... so stupid.
I have to wonder if things would have turned out differently had he not tampered with the collar, seems like that's where he screwed up.

 

[Takem]

^^This is exactly what I was thinking. Not a good start after the incident occurred.

Steep penalties either way.

 

[Dustin the wind]

“It was ultimately determined that the mountain lion died of a gunshot wound to the head,”

Rock solid police work CA! How many monkeys and how much money did it take to finally come to that conclusion?

 

[Huntindog45]

Jesus... so stupid.
I have to wonder if things would have turned out differently had he not tampered with the collar, seems like that's where he screwed up.

yah.. if he had handled it better after the shot this would be different....

 

[coloyooper]

yah.. if he had handled it better after the shot this would be different....

Maybe.

 

[RosinBag]

yah.. if he had handled it better after the shot this would be different....

This is exactly correct. If he would have just shot it and then called authorities with his explanation, it would have been a non issue. When you start trying to cover it up it makes your legitimate reason sound suspicious.

 

[jspradley]

Yeah, obviously we can't say for sure what would have happened had he not tampered with the collar but it seems to me like he got on the wrong side of trying to hide the truth from the game warden... they really don't like that.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

To the op’s title, this is nowhere near a new low for CA

 

[Azone]

As everyone else has stated he should have just called the warden and explained what happened. I believe the punishment was very excessive, but its California, land of bleeding heart morons.
What do we expect to happen, some DA to understand that somebody made a decision that had possible life or death consequences that was in defense and the best interest of children?
Forget about it, this is whack job utopia out here, common sense takes a backseat.

 

[brsnow]

If you shoot an animal in any state and tamper with it, the outcome is probably similar. The truth will set you free. We constantly complain people get off too easy, but now since it is California we want to be more liberal in punishment, classic.

 

[rob86jeep]

I wouldn't blame CA for what happened, the guy messed up. Like what has already been said, he cut the collar off. That means he's either not very smart or trying to cover up the situation (aka crime). The article said the lion was "yards" from kids; that means it could have been 300 yards... Theres a reason why the defense didn't use the actual number. Think about it in terms of an out of season bear in any other state. What if somebody killed a bear simply because it was "close" to children? You can't kill an animal unless you or someone else is in danger, not just because it's wandering too close.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Mmmmm. My read of that article is that he cut it off. Seems like there were plenty of people aware that he shot the thing and it was near a kids camp. Unless I heard some more information on the “tampering” component, I feel like this is a bit excessive.

Sure, he probably should have called wildlife to begin with and sure he probably should have left the carcass undisturbed and called wildlife but 30 days seems like a lot.

 

[87TT]

Deserved what e got for criminal stupidity, IMO. Should have shot and shut up and walked away. It's CA! 30 day "work release" is just community service, not jail time anyway. I would have taken regular time. With overcrowding from the "prison re alignment", he wouldn't do any time anyway.. Possession of heroin or a stolen gun is just a ticket.

 

[Crapshoot]

S S S

 

[Deplorable77]

I'm not buying the "children" defense. Good arrest and punishment . I am upset the rifle was destroyed, what a waste.