What say you.

[mtmiller]

I know some people have been following this for some time. Info starting to come forward.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908290304

 

[JoseCuervo]

I like the "comment" following the story. If the guy making the "comment" is representative of the gene pool that these three guys come from, I think it is pretty obvious they are GUILTY.

huntman2 wrote:
The fish and game are trying to frame them I know 1 hand what happend on this hunt .The 1000dollers went to the pilot and it cost more then that lewton paid out of pocket. the ram was on public land when shot! the privot was not marked . and crosed not knowing .it is not wrong to fly the breaks and the flying was done befor season and the warden did not show of for 4 days.they had radios but did not use to kill ram not a viloation or would have been charged! same with flying.As for the gpe Lewton did give the wright cordnace . this is what happend . I have known all 3 of thease guys for years and have hunted with them and lewton has the best rep as a sheep hunter and cammera man as it gets that is why all the gov tag holders want to go with him . They spend a lot of money on theas tags and would not go with shakey guys .
This warden screwed up big time and they are trying to cover thear ass by makeing them look bad . they took a year to come up with this . they should all be fired!!!

 

[mtmiller]

I got a chuckle out of that as well.

 

[smalls]

I like the "comment" following the story. If the guy making the "comment" is representative of the gene pool that these three guys come from, I think it is pretty obvious they are GUILTY.

How dare you judge Jose, he's probably got "redemption" in his soul.

 

[Dinkshooter]

"huntman2 wrote:
The fish and game are trying to frame them I know 1 hand what happend on this hunt .The 1000dollers went to the pilot and it cost more then that lewton paid out of pocket. the ram was on public land when shot! the privot was not marked . and crosed not knowing .it is not wrong to fly the breaks and the flying was done befor season and the warden did not show of for 4 days.they had radios but did not use to kill ram not a viloation or would have been charged! same with flying.As for the gpe Lewton did give the wright cordnace . this is what happend . I have known all 3 of thease guys for years and have hunted with them and lewton has the best rep as a sheep hunter and cammera man as it gets that is why all the gov tag holders want to go with him . They spend a lot of money on theas tags and would not go with shakey guys .
This warden screwed up big time and they are trying to cover thear ass by makeing them look bad . they took a year to come up with this . they should all be fired!!!"

That there is internet Gold!!!!!!!!

So they never say, did he have a tag from the draw or not? That thing is a beast.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Does any one count more than 6 rings on the close side?

The year 4th from the base in unreal.

 

[----]

I can't remember which ram, but I remember hearing one of the huge Breaks ram's was only a six year old.

 

[Nemont]

What happens to the previous guys Lewton has guided to record book sheep? Are they all going to get a visit from the FWP? Do those records stay in the book or would they need to come out? What are the rules about flying and hunting? Did they fly and hunt the same day? Just curious.

This whole things is like from the twilight zone. What ever the outcome it appears Lewton and his gang knowingly killed a trophy of a life time to enrich themselves. He will pay for it but knowing our system it may only be a slap on the wrist.

Nemont

 

[The Hedgehog]

You can't tell what happened or suggest their sentence or call them "GUILTY" by reading a press report, or by thumbing through a list of charges that are pressed. Although it certainly appears that there was wrong-doing, the guys deserve their day in court where all the details can be presented.

Regardless, it's really pretty sad that a state employee finds it necessary to gun down a ram of that caliber to "keep his cover."

 

[jabber]

Regardless, it's really pretty sad that a state employee finds it necessary to gun down a ram of that caliber to "keep his cover."

You would think that it wasn't soley his decision. Surely his superiors discussed the possibility with him of having to take an animal when they were setting this up, which makes it even worse in my book. You would think at that point their case should have been made without needing to put another animal on the wall at HQ.

 

[Southwind]

If these men did violate the law they should be punished. But, at the same time I this sounds a little like entrapment to me. I believe the undercover officer should be charged for illegally taking the ram. What puts the Game and Fish dept above the law?

The Fish and Game just knowing killed a trophy game animal belonging to the people of Montana without proper licencing.

I want poaching stopped, but it has to be done legitimately and not contrived or in association and fellowship to the crime itself.

This stinks, I think the dept screwed up royal here.

 

[schmalts]

You would think that it wasn't soley his decision. Surely his superiors discussed the possibility with him of having to take an animal when they were setting this up, which makes it even worse in my book. You would think at that point their case should have been made without needing to put another animal on the wall at HQ.

Then why pretend to miss the first time? If he needed a kill to make charges stick, why not get it over with the first shot he missed? If he didn't need a kill to make charges, why kill it? I think it is BS myself, and would like to know why the sheep needed to be killed to make the charges. After all, they did not get charged for shooting a sheep, but guiding and tresspassing without permits.

 

[Grady]

Sounds like a mess, that's for sure.

I would imagine that the decision was not up to the UC operative. He may well have missed the first time thinking that that in itself would be enough to make the cases against the other three(trespassing & illegally outfitting). His bosses and possibly the District Attorney (or whomever prosecutes these cases in MT) then decide that there is not enough to file on, they do not believe they have the "elements of the offense", they want to go for the higher charge (felony possession) or whatever and they order him to finish the job.

I agree with Greenhorn on this- there's no need to rush to judgement on the actions of either the officer or the accused until the whole story comes out; which most likely won't be anytime soon.

 

[Idaho_B&T]

interesting

We will never know the whole story until the case is settled. According to the article, however, the only felony charge they got them on was 'illegal possession', which took a dead animal to get. I wonder how that is going to stick? Regardless, here are a couple of interesting posts. Who knows, considering they are just posts, but interesting, non-the-less.

"A few things I found out about this story need to be clarified as they seem to be spun to distort the truth. First, the flying was done before the sheep season and a week before the ram was killed, which is not illegal. The ram was located on foot a week after the flying. Second the road taken into the public land is posted "Public Road Across Private Land" and the hunt was conducted on public land. Third there were two officers, one armed and none of the three charged were armed other than with cameras. Fourth, the ram did not have to be shot. After the agent's third miss the hunting party had lost the sheep. ONE OF THE AGENTS SPOTTED THE RAMS AND THE AGENT SHOT THE BIGGEST RAM OUT OF A GROUP OF THREE RAMS. The agent GAVE Lewton the $1000 for the flying which was then paid directly to the pilot. The agent was not charged or asked for another penny. The agent WAS told not to explain the location of the ram as Lewton INSTEAD gave him the exact GPS coordinates of the kill site!
9/1/2009 12:33:21 AM"

AND, one more...
"Huntman2, I also know lewton and Trangmoe. I agree with everything that you said about their character. For those that dont know them here is a short version. They are sheep nuts. They live breath and eat sheep. They dont take compensation for their time, matter of fact they actually thanked me for including them on my hunt last fall. I hunted with them less than two weeks after the undercover hunt and five days before the governors tag hunt in the same area, so I am also pretty upset that the ram was taken in the manner it was. Heck, I was next in line in the area, it could have been mine. Not that I am upset with the ram I got by any means, dont get me wrong. The guy I really feel bad for other than those facing these shady charges is the guy that has applied in this area for years and sits there wondering if it was his tag that got swiped last year for this FWP operation. The ram didnt have to die. That was the most callous comment I have ever heard, especially from FWP. Cmon.
9/1/2009 12:21:13 AM"

It appears as though 'Huntman2' used spell check and grammar check this time.

 

[The Hedgehog]

This guy also had his spell checker turned on.. SHEEP STING ARTICLE

 

[ringer]

Don't you think the officer shot the animal so he didn't expose himself in the boonies with three criminals who could have killed and buried him to avoid getting caught? He intentionally missed then was forced to make a decision. His life wasn't worth someone else getting a trophy animal. If they are all found innocent then rip him for doing the wrong thing. People will do desperate things to avoid jail. If they are guilty then whine about all the other animals they took illegally that you could have had.

 

[JB]

Don't you think the officer shot the animal so he didn't expose himself in the boonies with three criminals who could have killed and buried him to avoid getting caught?

nope....never heard of hunters getting killed for being a poor marksman. shirts cut yes.

 

[The Hedgehog]

No ringer, I don't think that at all. But I wasn't there. Maybe the officer felt undergunned with his centerfire hunting rifle, against Lewton's HD camera.

 

[MNHunter]

2 sides to every story and I'd hate to be involved on either side. In the end a world class ram is gone and there is nothin anyone can do about it

 

[ringer]

OK the guy was safe as he could be and he poached a record animal. I have no idea. I guess we all just have to wait to see what turns up in court.