JAIL sentence for CO Springs Poacher

[elkduds]

Colorado Springs man sentenced to 6 months in jail for poaching charges

A Colorado Springs man has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor poaching charges in three different counties.

www.koaa.com

 

[Nick87]

Scumbag

 

[The Hedgehog]

wow now that's a hardcore poaching mo fo.

 

[Western Traveler1]

Not enough...even with the 111 days served awaiting trial.

 

[Anschutz]

Why is CPW even reviewing his eligibility to hunt in the future?

 

[Oak]

$307 per poached animal.

• In 1996 after the high-profile poaching of a well-known bull elk the previous year, Colorado became the first state to levy fines and penalties specifically for the poaching of “trophy species” or “trophy animals” with the passage of “Samson’s Law.” Numerous states have followed in Colorado’s stead with the institution of their own fines and penalties for the poaching of trophy animals and species.
• Under the current provisions of Colorado’s “Samson Law,” the fines for the poaching of animals designated as “trophy animals” are as follows:
• $4,000 of any trophy pronghorn antelope;
• $10,000 for the poaching of a trophy bull elk, mule deer, or white-tailed deer;
• $10,000 for the poaching of any bull moose or mountain goat billy (all bull moose and mountain goat billies are designated as trophy animals);
• $25,000 for the poaching of any ram bighorn sheep.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Every year the CPW publishes interesting poaching cases. Not only are they rage inducing, they are astonishing in their absurdity.

 

[Valley1320]

Take his hunting rights for life I hate poachers. Make it all the harder for us guys that do it right.

 

[marksjeep]

Not near enough. Time nor money.

 

[TOGIE]

$307 per poached animal.

i hate how wildlife charges get classified as poaching a trophy animal or not, with a dramatically higher dollar penalty associated with it if it's trophy.

bad optics for non hunters, that poaching is only a big effin deal if it's huuuuuuuuge

let's change that:

• In 1996 after the high-profile poaching of a well-known bull elk the previous year, Colorado became the first state to levy fines and penalties specifically for the poaching of “trophy species” or “trophy animals” with the passage of “Samson’s Law.” Numerous states have followed in Colorado’s stead with the institution of their own fines and penalties for the poaching of trophy animals and species.
• Under the current provisions of Colorado’s “Samson Law,” the fines for the poaching of animals designated as “trophy animals” are as follows: Illegally killing any animal will result in the associated fines:
• $4,000 $10,000 for any trophy pronghorn antelope;
• $10,000 $20,000 for the poaching of any trophy elk, mule deer, or white-tailed deer;
• $10,000 $25,000 for the poaching of any bull moose or mountain goat billy (all bull moose and mountain goat billies are designated as trophy animals);
• $25,000 for the poaching of any ram bighorn sheep.

 

[KipCarson]

i hate how wildlife charges get classified as poaching a trophy animal or not, with a dramatically higher dollar penalty associated with it if it's trophy.

bad optics for non hunters, that poaching is only a big effin deal if it's huuuuuuuuge

I understand why they do it, but that doesn’t make me like either. It basically says that some poaching is more OK than other poaching…
The flipside is that if the fines were the same for killing a doe as a 200 class buck etc. it would be hard to justify those penalties in the legal system and it would result in even less prosecution I imagine.

The guy in this article essentially got off scot free IMO. Especially including the fact that he killed a big horn that most of us will never even get the opportunity to hold a tag for and will most likely dream of until we’re dead. He obviously has a complete disregard for all law and a complete and 100% lack of respect for wildlife.

 

[MO Betta]

Punishment was way too light on this.

 

[Mallardsx2]

They should have cut his hands off with a pair of pruning shears. Then set him free.

 

[COEngineer]

i hate how wildlife charges get classified as poaching a trophy animal or not, with a dramatically higher dollar penalty associated with it if it's trophy.

bad optics for non hunters, that poaching is only a big effin deal if it's huuuuuuuuge

I don't know. If non-hunters dislike "trophy hunters" more than regular hunters, I think it stands to reason that they would support more severe punishments for trophy poachers.

 

[TOGIE]

it just sends an odd message in my mind to those on the far outside looking into the hunting world and reading an article about this guy

"you poached this normal buck? yeah, that's bad, but we'll just fine you as if you were driving too fast on i25"

"shooting a really big buck though? now that's REALLY bad, those poor hunters wait years to shoot super big bucks, now it's uber time out for you mister."

i feel like you don't even have to read between the lines for it to say to the average reader that hunters/cpw only care about trophy animals - not that that's true

the distinction i hear is this: it's not a case of trophy poaching, it's case of a poacher shooting those coveted trophy animals

 

[Zach]

Poster child by the pro-wolf crowd forshadowing reintroduction...

 

[Pucky Freak]

As tag prices go up, generally fines for poaching stay flat. In many instances it’s cheaper to get fined than pay hunting costs legally. Every year in IA we get dudes driving up from southern states on “poaching vacations.” Rifles, spotlights, cut some horns off by moonlight, then drive back on down to TX, AR, LA, etc. Not to say Iowans aren’t doing the same - they are.

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Wtf ~300 per poached animal! Most NR tags are much more than that. Far too light a penalty for low lives like this IMO.

 

[Muskeez]

Anything less than a tall tree and short piece of rope won't satisfy most legal hunters. I totally agree the monetary penalties are rarely enough to be a strong deterrent, but I'm glad to see some jail time introduced. Think about all of the old threads of this guy or that guy that got caught poaching, many just had a mediocre fine and lost their hunting privileges and went about their daily lives. Loosing hunting privileges in every state would be the harshest punishment personally. Having to sit on the sidelines for 5-10 years would be devastating. But, at least this guy has to do jail time. That would be degrading and very hard on his family life and financial life as I would imagine that he will loose his job (if he has one). So, ya the fines need to be stiffer but at least he ended up in the clink for a while.

 

[sbhooper]

The fines are one thing, but some states are going to a very stiff civil penalty in addition to the criminal fine, for stealing the "trophy" animals. The bigger the trophy, the bigger the fine. It does seem like a large percentage of these cases, involves the poaching of trophy-class animals.