Guy who slaughtered 24 elk was sentenced

[2MANY]

Still a chunk of money.  Having to do the public presentations is actually pretty harsh.  Many would not do it.  I think he had to swallow a lot of pride to admit guilt and take the deal.  The penalty is much stiffer than some other cases.

Boo Hoo! Instead of spending a few years in the pokey like he deserves, he has to give a few lectures. Oh, the humanity! What a joke. Swallowing his pride is minor compared to other things he would be swallowing in prison. I bet he sobbed at his sentencing(sarc).

PS: I bet he can easily afford the fine and I bet it is less than he spent on attorney fees to keep out of jail. They should have seized his ranch.

Spoken like a true liberal who identifies as Ken.

[ctwiggs1]

I'm not a fan of filling the jails with people unless they are a threat to society.

While the fine seems light to us sportsmen, the non hunting will think the fine is large. I'm ok with the punishment; I bet he won't be doing that again.

You're probably good for me on this forum 

[pianoman9701]

$18K for 24 Elk, that's a cheap Elk Hunt.

Look, there's no excuse for what he did and how he handled it. I have a feeling that he was frustrated with damage to his farm/fences, crops, and blew up and screwed up - still no excuse. Jail time would likely mean the loss of his assets, his livelihood and then we have another family on the welfare rolls. The fine will hurt a lot. I would've preferred a 10 year or lifetime suspension of privileges and would like to have seen hundreds of hours of community service in habitat restoration and improvement.

[Curly]

I'm not a fan of filling the jails with people unless they are a threat to society.

While the fine seems light to us sportsmen, the non hunting will think the fine is large. I'm ok with the punishment; I bet he won't be doing that again.

You're probably good for me on this forum 

   Glad to help.

[pianoman9701]

I get the anger and feel it myself. It just boils down to what's best for society as a whole? Do we ruin the guy's life completely and create a situation which puts him and his family out of their farm or do we make it hurt enough to make him an example? I guarantee there's no one out there thinking $18K is a great deal that makes it worthwhile to slaughter and waste a herd of elk. Certainly, other farmers will think twice before taking wildlife matters into their own hands.

Another punishment/restitution might have been to force him to annually allow hunting on his property to keep elk numbers down.

[ctwiggs1]

I get the anger and feel it myself. It just boils down to what's best for society as a whole? Do we ruin the guy's life completely and create a situation which puts him and his family out of their farm or do we make it hurt enough to make him an example? I guarantee there's no one out there thinking $18K is a great deal that makes it worthwhile to slaughter and waste a herd of elk. Certainly, other farmers will think twice before taking wildlife matters into their own hands.

Another punishment/restitution might have been to force him to annually allow hunting on his property to keep elk numbers down.

That would have been good - he may allow it now since he really doesn't have much choice.  I doubt he'll be getting many damage permits in the near future.

[Pegasus]

Still a chunk of money.  Having to do the public presentations is actually pretty harsh.  Many would not do it.  I think he had to swallow a lot of pride to admit guilt and take the deal.  The penalty is much stiffer than some other cases.

Boo Hoo! Instead of spending a few years in the pokey like he deserves, he has to give a few lectures. Oh, the humanity! What a joke. Swallowing his pride is minor compared to other things he would be swallowing in prison. I bet he sobbed at his sentencing(sarc).

PS: I bet he can easily afford the fine and I bet it is less than he spent on attorney fees to keep out of jail. They should have seized his ranch.

Spoken like a true liberal who identifies as Ken.

Hmmmm. Someone who wants to see criminals do the time and pay heavy fines for 24 elk instead of for 6 at a reduced fine is a liberal? You better run down and get your new Ken Doll with the man bun before they sell out. You are going to need it when it gets cold out and your feet hurt when you are hunting and you need something to comfort you while you sob away.

[pianoman9701]

We shouldn't be attacking each other over a discussion on poaching, guys. Try and dial the rhetoric down and have an intelligent discussion without name-calling and insults.

[2MANY]

I total agree.
Liberal is a bad word.
Sorry.

BTW how do you know Ken identifies as a man?
Or can women wear man buns too?

[bigtex]

When I look at whether or not someone got an easy punishment or not I look at the maximum penalty for the charge vs. what they got.

Illegally killing an elk in Oregon is a Class A Misdemeanor carrying up to a $6,250 criminal fine, up to 1 year in jail plus $1,500 in restitution for a "non-trophy elk" or $15,000 for a non-trophy elk. A judge can also impose a higher restitution if they'd like

So, in this case if he were charged with killing the 24 elk (I actually remember seeing an article they only charged for 12..) he faced up to $150,000 in criminal fines, 24 years in jail and $36,000 in restitution (based off the non-trophy amount).

In this case the individual received no criminal fine, no jail time, and $18,000 in restitution.

Now I don't know the rancher, I'm sure none of us do. He may be your average rancher and a $18,000 restitution will definitely hurt him, he also could have a lot of money, I honestly don't know. But I will say that in terms of what he got vs. what he could've gotten he got off. The fact that he doesn't have to spend a day in jail is mind boggling. 

[Pegasus]

When I look at whether or not someone got an easy punishment or not I look at the maximum penalty for the charge vs. what they got.

Illegally killing an elk in Oregon is a Class A Misdemeanor carrying up to a $6,250 criminal fine, up to 1 year in jail plus $1,500 in restitution for a "non-trophy elk" or $15,000 for a non-trophy elk. A judge can also impose a higher restitution if they'd like

So, in this case if he were charged with killing the 24 elk (I actually remember seeing an article they only charged for 12..) he faced up to $150,000 in criminal fines, 24 years in jail and $36,000 in restitution (based off the non-trophy amount).

In this case the individual received no criminal fine, no jail time, and $18,000 in restitution.

Now I don't know the rancher, I'm sure none of us do. He may be your average rancher and a $18,000 restitution will definitely hurt him, he also could have a lot of money, I honestly don't know. But I will say that in terms of what he got vs. what he could've gotten he got off. The fact that he doesn't have to spend a day in jail is mind boggling. 

My position exactly. I am surprised as to the amount of posts here that think that his sentence was fair for killing 24 er 6 elk but I shouldn't be since this is the Left Coast  Killing all those elk was not for self-preservation. You are right, he got off.

[Rainier10]

When I look at whether or not someone got an easy punishment or not I look at the maximum penalty for the charge vs. what they got.

Illegally killing an elk in Oregon is a Class A Misdemeanor carrying up to a $6,250 criminal fine, up to 1 year in jail plus $1,500 in restitution for a "non-trophy elk" or $15,000 for a non-trophy elk. A judge can also impose a higher restitution if they'd like

So, in this case if he were charged with killing the 24 elk (I actually remember seeing an article they only charged for 12..) he faced up to $150,000 in criminal fines, 24 years in jail and $36,000 in restitution (based off the non-trophy amount).

In this case the individual received no criminal fine, no jail time, and $18,000 in restitution.

Now I don't know the rancher, I'm sure none of us do. He may be your average rancher and a $18,000 restitution will definitely hurt him, he also could have a lot of money, I honestly don't know. But I will say that in terms of what he got vs. what he could've gotten he got off. The fact that he doesn't have to spend a day in jail is mind boggling. 

My position exactly. I am surprised as to the amount of posts here that think that his sentence was fair for killing 24 er 6 elk but I shouldn't be since this is the Left Coast  Killing all those elk was not for self-preservation. You are right, he got off.

I think it is all relative.  Have you read "operation cody"?  That guy got off.  Don't get me wrong I wish this guy would have got more but he made a deal and didn't go to court.  I could see him gettting even less if it went to trial.  At least in Washington I could see him getting less.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Hhhmmmm he has to pay $18000.00 plus all the feed he lost, and damage they did to his ranch. The guy that shot a trophy bull elk in a GMU that was closed for branched antler bull elk got off with nothing paid in restitution.

The rancher didn't go unpunished. 

The poacher did though. 

[luckyman]

No hard feelings here.

[Pegasus]

Hhhmmmm he has to pay $18000.00 plus all the feed he lost, and damage they did to his ranch. The guy that shot a trophy bull elk in a GMU that was closed for branched antler bull elk got off with nothing paid in restitution.

The rancher didn't go unpunished. 

The poacher did though. 

How much damage was done to his ranch? You don't even know. Did this rancher let the general public hunt his land to cull the herd? I doubt it. How many of those 24 elk would be trophies? How close to his home did he shoot them? Who got all the meat, hides and heads?

They should have at least forced him to post the equivalent of Washington's "Feel Free to Hunt" signs for the next twenty years and not exclude shooting right next to his residence.

The point is neither the poacher nor the rancher should escape jail time. Its the law and should be enforced in court especially when one kills 24 6 elk. What's the sense in passing laws that no one enforces? Oh, we already know how that works out...