Category: Poachers

Federal Ammunition Supports Boone and Crockett Club Poach & Pay Research

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Boone and Crockett Club announced today that Federal Ammunition will be supporting the Club’s Poach & Pay project as a Trailblazer in Conservation. The three-year sponsorship agreement will provide consistent support for this critical research and policy project and generally support the Club’s overall conservation mission. For over 130 years, the Boone and Crockett Club has led the way on hunting ethics and the Poach & Pay project continues this tradition in an effort to raise the stakes against wildlife crime. Trailblazer in Conservation is the highest, mission-focused partnership level available with the Club and many of the sponsors are directing their support toward this flagship anti-poaching effort.

“Federal and our other ammunition brands of CCI, Remington, and Hevi-SHOT greatly value the Boone and Crockett Club’s extensive history of fighting for conservation and hunter rights, and their latest leadership in initiating the Poach & Pay project continues this tradition,” commented Federal’s Conservation Manager, Jon Zinnel. “We believe this commitment to finding the real cost of wildlife crimes and helping develop policies that will deter future crimes are essential to clearly show the difference between law-abiding hunters and poachers.”

The Boone and Crockett Club’s Poach & Pay research will assess the barriers to prosecuting poachers, evaluate the detection rate and conservation impacts of wildlife crime, describe the motivational factors and potential deterrents that influence poachers, and provide solutions to improve prosecution and conviction rates, as well as a defensible framework for poaching penalties. In addition, the Poach & Pay outreach campaign will arm U.S. sportsmen and women with real poaching data that clearly separates poaching from hunting. Federal’s culture of innovation has guided their company since it was founded in 1922. The company has long supported conservation efforts both through the excise taxes it pays on the sale of ammunition through the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration program, as well as through philanthropic support of conservation and advocacy organizations working to continue the future of hunting, shooting, and wildlife management. Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

Utah: DWR Conservation Officers Investigating Bald Eagle Shooting

OGDEN — Utah Division of Wildlife Resources conservation officers are seeking information after a bald eagle was shot and injured in Summit County last month.

DWR conservation officers received a report of an injured juvenile bald eagle near the town of Henefer in Summit County on April 2. A Utah State Parks ranger and a Utah Highway Patrol trooper located and captured the injured bird near the Weber River, west of I-84, along the frontage road. It was then transported to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah in Ogden.

Upon further investigation, it was determined that the bald eagle had been shot by a small-caliber firearm. The bullet entered the ride side of the bird, breaking one of its wings, and the bullet was lodged in the bird’s neck. The bird underwent surgery on April 9 to remove the bullet and is doing well in recovery at the center. Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

Texas Man Sentenced for Trafficking in Wildlife

A Texas man was sentenced to 20 months in prison for trafficking protected species and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and be placed on supervised release for a period of two years after completing his prison term.

Alejandro Carrillo, 62, of El Paso, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2020, to a two-count information charging him with one count of conspiracy to traffic wildlife and one count of smuggling. Carrillo admitted to being part of a conspiracy to smuggle wildlife from the Mexico into the United States via El Paso since May 2016. Carrillo was the middleman between several Mexico-based suppliers of wildlife and their U.S.-based customers. Carrillo’s role as middleman was to pick up wildlife from a co-conspirator in Juarez, Mexico, and transport (smuggle) that wildlife in his car into the United States at an El Paso border crossing. His status as a U.S. citizen with a Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection card made his transits easy. Once in the United States, Carrillo would ship the wildlife via FedEx or U.S. Postal Service to the U.S.-based customers. On many occasions, animals died during transport. Read more

Poachers

Michigan: Three Relatives Sentenced in Otsego County for Elk Poaching

Three northern Michigan men related to each other were sentenced Thursday in Otsego County District Court in Gaylord for a 2019 elk-poaching incident, in which three elk cows were killed.

Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, Harry White, 70, and Ronald White, 56, both of West Branch, each pleaded guilty to one count of illegally taking an elk.

Each man lost his hunting privileges for 15 years, forfeited his weapon and was ordered to serve a six-month probation term. In addition, each must pay $5,000 in restitution for the elk and a total of $625 in fines and court costs.

“I am proud of our team’s investigative efforts, which ultimately brought these three men to justice,” said Sgt. Mark DePew, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer who supervised the investigation. “Our officers demonstrated teamwork and patience to quickly solve one of the worst – if not the worst – elk poaching case northern Michigan has ever seen.”

Conservation officers began investigating the three men more than a year ago, after receiving anonymous tips that eventually connected the suspects, and then confirmed they had been at the location where the three elk cows were found dead. That location was situated 50 yards north of Hardwood Lake Road, near Bobcat Trail, east of Vanderbilt in Otsego County.

During the investigation, the Whites confessed to conservation officers that they poached the three elk. The three men were arraigned in January.

This was the third elk poaching case to occur within a 30-day period in late 2019. DNR conservation officers continue to actively investigate the two preceding elk poaching crimes, a bull elk killed in Otsego County in November 2019, and a second elk killed in Montmorency County a week later. Read more

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Three Michigan Men Fined Nearly $20,000 for Poaching Waterfowl

Three Macomb County men fined nearly $20,000 for poaching waterfowl

Three men from Harrison Township, Michigan, were arraigned and sentenced yesterday in the 42nd District Court in New Baltimore on charges related to illegally hunting and baiting waterfowl in December.

Richard Schaller, 52, Robert Kucinski, 49, and Timothy Morris, 58, pleaded guilty to a total of 13 misdemeanor charges, including:

  • Taking, possessing an over-limit of Canada geese.
  • Taking, possessing an over-limit of mallards.
  • Taking, possessing an over-limit of hen mallards.
  • Taking, hunting waterfowl over a baited area.

Additionally, Schaller was charged with one count of placing bait for the purpose of taking waterfowl.

On Dec. 6, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Report All Poaching hotline received a tip about a potential over-limit of taken waterfowl near a pond off Chesterfield Road in Chesterfield Township, Macomb County. Read more

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Boone and Crockett Club Welcomes Research and Media Partnership with International Wildlife Crimestoppers

MISSOULA, Mont. – International Wildlife Crimestoppers, Inc. (IWC) has joined the Boone and Crockett Club as a research and media partner in their coordinated efforts against poaching. Through the strategic partnership, the Club is supporting conservation law enforcement and will help IWC promote and continue providing specialized law enforcement equipment to officers. In addition, one key part of this outreach includes IWC’s Wall of Shame trailers, traveling exhibits that educate both adults and our nation’s youth about the differences between poaching and legal, ethical hunting. As part of the partnership, IWC will also be actively engaged in the Club’s Poach & Pay initiative supporting the development of communications materials and connection to conservation officers.

“For over one hundred years, conservation of our nation’s resources has come through the dedication of ethical hunters abiding by the regulations put in place to maintain sustainable wildlife resources. Conservation officers have been essential to that model by working to identify and stop poachers—but their job is incredibly hard. The Boone and Crockett Club is excited for this collaboration with International Wildlife Crimestoppers as the Poach & Pay project develops. Strategic partnerships like this one will help to increase successful prosecution of poachers, and make sure the penalties fit the crimes with fines and restitutions that support state agency wildlife conservation efforts,” commented Club President James F. Arnold.

Since it was founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club has focused on conserving wildlife using scientific management principles, while also promoting the highest ethical standards of Fair Chase® and sportsmanship in hunting. The organization has played a critical role in enacting many of the conservation laws that now serve as the foundation for wildlife management in this country. Protecting wildlife resources in North America is an ongoing mission for conservation law enforcement officers and International Wildlife Crimestoppers, Inc. IWC members consist of conservation law enforcement agencies and conservation minded organizations with the primary responsibility to enforce laws and regulations regarding the protection of fish, wildlife, and habitat within their state or province and promote sustainable conservation models for the future. Currently, the association is made up of U.S. states and Canadian provinces with a diverse executive board consisting of conservation law enforcement officers from across the country. Read more

Poachers

Michigan: Three Northern Michigan Men Arraigned in Elk Poaching Case

Three relatives responsible for what Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers are referring to as a historic elk poaching case were arraigned today in the Otsego County 87A District Court.

Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, and Harry White, 70, and Ronald White, 56, both of West Branch, pleaded not guilty to a total of eight wildlife crimes after admitting to poaching three cow elk in Pigeon River Country in December 2019.

  • Christian White was arraigned on four charges: hunting deer without a license, taking an over-limit of elk, failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve the elk and taking elk in the wrong hunting unit.
  • Harry White was arraigned on three charges: taking an over-limit of elk, failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve elk and taking elk in the wrong hunting unit.
  • Ronald White faces one charge: taking an over-limit of elk.

Read more

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Boone and Crockett Club Launches Poach & Pay Research

MISSOULA, Mont.  – During the annual meeting of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), the Boone and Crockett Club announced its plans to lead a long-term Poach & Pay anti-poaching campaign. Through Poach & Pay, the Club will work with state wildlife agencies, legislators, and the judicial system to improve the detection and conviction of poachers and to ensure that the fines being assessed for this illegal killing are in line with the value our society places on wildlife. Poach & Pay, which received initial financial support through the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, will include detailed research, a public outreach campaign to actively engage the sportsmen’s community against poaching, and the development of template legislation that could be carried in state houses to help state agencies fight wildlife crime. The Club also announced that it is actively seeking additional sponsorship from the outdoor industry and other organizations to help fund Poach & Pay research and outreach in the coming years.

“Poaching goes against all that we hold sacred as law-abiding sportsmen and women and undermines the entire foundation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. However, the media often uses the terms hunting and poaching interchangeably, dragging all hunters down with the crimes of poachers,” noted Boone and Crockett Club president, Timothy C. Brady. “In addition, with little consistency among states in terms of fines and restitution, poachers often get away with little penalty. This emboldens them and other poachers to steal our public trust resources – and potentially the future of hunting.” Read more

Poachers

Coast Guard Sets Record for Interdictions of Mexican Lanchas Fishing Illegally in U.S. Waters

A launch crew is interdicted by Coast Guard law enforcement crews for engaging in illegal fishing in federal waters off the coast of southern Texas. (U.S. Coast Guard file photo)

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard law enforcement crews interdicted a record-setting number of lanchas throughout the Gulf of Mexico for fiscal year 2020.

Since October 2019, Coast Guard assets and personnel detected a total of 326 lanchas and interdicted 136.

Since the first recorded lancha interdiction in the late 1980s, the Coast Guard has seen a significant uptick in the detection of the vessels, particularly in the past two years, recording 74 lancha interdictions in the previous fiscal year.

The Coast Guard utilizes a layered approach for operations through aircraft, small boats, and cutters, as well as improved technology on those assets, resulting in the drastic increase in lancha interdictions.

“This past year, we applied an unprecedented level of effort along the Maritime Boundary Line towards countering this threat to our natural resources, and the result speaks for itself,” said Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Prado, Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi enforcement chief. “However, we will not be content until we see an end to this affront on our maritime sovereignty. We will continue to leverage all available technology and partnerships to increase our effectiveness. The boating public can play a key role in assisting the Coast Guard. Successful interdictions are oftentimes the result of timely reports from the maritime community. We encourage all boaters to continue to report all suspected illegal fishing.” Read more

Fishing, Poachers

Two Cheboygan County men arrested for poaching a cow elk

Acting on an anonymous tip, Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers conducted a lengthy investigation which has led to the recent arrests of two Cheboygan County men for the poaching of a cow elk.

Jakob Edward Gagnon, 21, and Logan Nathan-Edward Turbin, 22, both of Wolverine, have appeared in Cheboygan County District Court in Cheboygan – Gagnon for arraignment, Turbin for plea and sentencing.

The investigation began in September 2018 with a tip called in to the DNR’s Report All Poaching Hotline (800-292-7800). An elk had been shot in the Pigeon River Country that month.

DNR conservation officers began following up on the tip and developed several suspects. A search warrant was obtained for the residence of one of the suspects. The search took place in October 2018, when evidence supporting the elk poaching was seized, in addition to illegal narcotics.

Conservation officers said evidence shows that Gagnon shot the elk and brought it back to his residence, where he then processed it. Turbin, knowing the elk was poached, assisted him in processing the elk, taking several bags of illegal elk meat for himself. Read more

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