Category: Poachers

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

Poachers ,

Federal Court Sentences Louisiana Man for Killing Whooping Cranes

LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA – A Rayne resident was sentenced July 30 for a Whooping Crane crime he committed four years ago.

Kaenon Constantin was sentenced at the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette by Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna.

Constantin received five years’ unsupervised probation. During this time, he must complete 360 hours of community service with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). Constantin’s hunting privileges were revoked until he can complete his community service. He also was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution to LDWF.

Constantin pled not guilty on Jan. 21 to a misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act for transporting an endangered species as defined under the Endangered Species Act and agreed to a trial before a magistrate judge. In June, Constantin agreed to change his plea to guilty at the hearing today.

He and a juvenile accomplice shot two Whooping Cranes in May 2016 in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. Upon discovering color bands and transmitters on the one individual whose carcass they were able to retrieve, Whooping Crane L5-15, Constantin and his accomplice used a kitchen knife to separate the legs from the bird’s body and threw the transmitter in a crawfish pond in attempt to hide the evidence of their crime, in violation of the Lacey Act, a federal law that bans trafficking in illegal wildlife.

During sentencing, Judge Hanna said, “I think these birds are basically priceless,” but asked that Constantin pay for one of the two birds he shot. Judge Hanna repeatedly said he was upset at the loss of the birds, and the fact that Constantin attempted to cover up the shooting and involved his juvenile nephew in his crime made the situation much worse. The judge also expressed disbelief that anyone could shoot a Whooping Crane without knowing that it was something they weren’t supposed to shoot. Judge Hanna said he would have given Constantin jail time under normal circumstances, but that prisons in Louisiana are already overcrowded and dangerous due to the pandemic. Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

BHA Rewards Hunter who Reported Illegal Wilderness Helicopter

MISSOULA, Mont. – Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has issued a reward to John Morris, the Montana horseman who recently captured images of a pilot using a private helicopter to access a fishing hole in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Morris’s photos resulted in the pilot’s conviction, qualifying him for a monetary award via BHA’s Reward Fund.

The million-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana is the flagship of the National Wilderness System. Under the federal Wilderness Act, motorized and wheeled vehicles, including motorbikes, ATVs, snowmobiles are prohibited, and aircraft are limited to specific airstrips. Aircraft are required to stay 2000 feet above the ground when flying over wilderness areas. That overflight rule also applies to Wild & Scenic Rivers, which includes the South Fork of the Flathead.

Morris was hunting black bear by horseback in the upper South Fork of the Flathead Valley in the Bob when he saw a low-flying helicopter land on a gravel bar and two individuals fishing.

“My family has enjoyed the solitude of the Bob for three generations now,” said Morris, of Kalispell. “Witnessing a helicopter illegally landed on the South Fork completely degraded my experience. In my mind, for me, that place will never be the same.” Read more

Poachers

Suspected Poacher Stopped in Tennessee with Illegal Ohio Walleyes

Suspected Poacher Stopped in Tennessee with Illegal Ohio Walleyes

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wildlife officials in Ohio and Tennessee combined in early June to apprehend a suspected poacher who reportedly took an over limit of walleye on Lake Erie, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The investigation is ongoing with multiple state agencies involved in the case; charges have yet to be filed.

Division of Wildlife officers, assigned to the Lake Erie Unit, investigated an anonymous report to the Turn In a Poacher hotline about two men, from Tennessee and Florida, who allegedly caught and kept more than their daily limit of walleye for several days during their stay in Ohio. The daily bag limit on Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie is six walleye with a 15-inch limit.

After witnessing the men engage in suspected over the limit activity, Ohio officers planned to contact the men on June 10, but determined that the man from Tennessee had left for home earlier in the day. With knowledge of the Tennessee man’s identity, Tennessee officers met the man upon his arrival at his home. After interviewing the suspect and subsequent inspection of the fish, they reportedly seized 28 individual bags of frozen walleye fillets.

On behalf of Ohio wildlife investigators, the Tennessee officers seized chunks of frozen walleye which were not kept in a manner that the fillets could be easily identified and counted. The fish will remain frozen and maintained as evidence in the case. Read more

Fishing, Poachers

Pennsylvania Court Wraps Up Deer Abuse Case

A November incident where an immobile white-tailed deer was held down and repeatedly kicked as a smartphone video camera documented the attack has been resolved in court.

Alexander Brock Smith, 18, appeared May 6 in Jefferson County court and pleaded guilty to a second-degree misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals and summary counts of disturbance of game or wildlife, unlawful possession of game or wildlife, using unlawful devices or methods while hunting and failure to wear the required amount of fluorescent orange while hunting.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, Smith agreed to serve two years on probation, with his community service to be completed at an animal shelter and through presentations made to hunter-education classes and sportsmen’s clubs. He will be required to pay $1,650 in fines and his hunting license will be revoked for 15 years.

The rest of the charges Smith faced were dropped as part of the agreement.

Smith was charged alongside a 17-year-old juvenile whose case was resolved Thursday in Jefferson County juvenile court. Juvenile court records are not available for public view.

Videos Smith recorded of the Nov. 30 incident then shared through the messaging app Snapchat were seen by thousands of people worldwide, leading to significant public outrage over the incident. The Game Commission launched an investigation immediately after receiving a report and filed a host of charges against Smith and the juvenile. Among charges filed against each defendant were two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and two felony counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated animal cruelty.

Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans praised the law-enforcement work that led to charges, and stressed that the deplorable actions depicted in the video in no way are representative of the hunting community.

“From the start, some of the loudest voices calling for justice in this case were those of hunters, who care deeply about wildlife and have always stepped up to protect it,” Burhans said. “That mindset, passed down through the generations, might be the biggest reason we enjoy healthy and sustainable wildlife populations today.”

Poachers

Michigan: Chippewa County man charged with 125 wildlife crimes following DNR investigation

A 56-year-old Pickford man was arraigned Wednesday morning ­in Chippewa County’s 91st District Court on 125 wildlife misdemeanor charges, following a months-long investigation by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division.

Kurt Johnston Duncan faces charges that include illegally harvesting 18 wolves over the past 18 months and killing and disposing of three bald eagles. Wolves are protected in Michigan and are on the federal endangered species list. Bald eagles are protected under state law, as well as the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Duncan, who today pleaded not guilty to all charges, faces:

  • Up to 90 days in jail and $1,000 fine for each wolf.
  • Up to 90 days in jail and $1,000 fine for each eagle.
  • Restitution of $1,500 per eagle and $500 per wolf.
  • Up to 90 days in jail and $500 fine each for the other wildlife crimes.

Duncan was served four search warrants in March. Other species involved in the charges include deer, turkey, bear and bobcat. DNR law enforcement detectives said that Duncan was using the animals for a variety of reasons, including crafts, selling, or disposing of them, and stated that he was catching the animals because he could and “likes to do it.” Read more

Poachers

Michigan: three more elk poached in northern Michigan; DNR seeks information

Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers in Gaylord are seeking tips from the public regarding three adult cow elk poached in Otsego County – the third elk poaching case in northern Michigan in roughly a month.

“This is the worst year we’ve had as far as elk poaching,” said Lt. Jim Gorno.

Area residents found the three elk about 50 yards north of Hardwood Lake Road near Bobcat Trail, in the Pigeon River State Forest, east of Vanderbilt. Officers believe that the three elk were shot either Saturday or Sunday while they were bedded down near each other.

“This is a loss for everyone who appreciates our state’s natural resources. It’s a true shame,” said Gorno. “If you or anyone you know has information that can help us solve this crime, we want to hear from you.”

Gorno said that the public tips received regarding a bull elk poached in November helped identify a suspect in that case.

Anyone with information regarding this poaching incident can contact the DNR Law Enforcement Division at the DNR Customer Service Center in Gaylord at 989-732-3541, or call or text the Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800, available 24/7 year-round. Information can be left anonymously; monetary rewards are available for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of violators.

Contact: Lt. James Gorno, 989-732-3541

Poachers

Michigan DNR seeks tips about bull elk poached in Pigeon River Country

Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers in Gaylord are seeking information about a bull elk that was poached in the Pigeon River State Forest, east of Vanderbilt in Otsego County.

A large, bull elk carcass was located near Ford Lake Road approximately three-quarters of a mile south of the Grass Lake and Ford Lake Road intersection. Concerned citizens found the elk Monday and contacted local conservation officers. Officers suspect that the elk was killed Saturday or Sunday. The elk’s antlers included six points on one side and seven on the other.

“We are currently following up on leads,” said Lt. Jim Gorno. “We hope that the public can help us with this investigation, as they have always been helpful in the past. This is flat out poaching. A majestic elk was killed for no reason and left to rot.”

Anyone with information regarding this poaching incident can contact the DNR Customer Service Center in Gaylord at 989-732-3541 or call or text the 24-hour Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800. Information can be left anonymously; monetary rewards are available for information that leads to the arrest of violators.

Contact: Lt. James Gorno, 989-732-3541

Poachers
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