Entiat Poaching Case UPDATED!

[Skyvalhunter]

Guess I will put in for a permit for your back yard then.

[PlateauNDN]

I was just kidding plat, I will probably never travel to Entiat to shoot deer when we have trophy's in our back yard.

I agree, I don't get why anybody would travel that far to harvest a trophy when they're in our own back yard.  I was relating the story of my bull from last year and I filled up my truck went up and parked, walked in to where I had been scouting, shot him, packed him out and came back and only used a couple of gallons.

Guess I will put in for a permit for your back yard then.

My backyard is near the foothills outside of white swan though not quite as close as Hair to the mts.

[Mike450r]

I don't understand the mindset that something like this should not be a felony.  The statute is clear on the dollar amount that constitutes felony theft. 

I am willing to bet based on what I have read on this site about hating thieves that if your car got broken into and the value of items stolen constituted a felony everybody would be fine with the felony charges.

Is a deer not worth $250.00?  Plus, most of the times the crime is committed with a firearm.  Other crimes committed with a firearm gets an enhancement.

I say the charge should be a felony,  that doesn't mean that a judge or jury cannot convict them of a lesser charge based on a good defense argument or other circumstances that may change things.

Jail time can be suspended, fines can be in the same range.  I don't have the exact numbers regarding fines on hand but a misdemeanor is up to a year in jail and a felony is a year or more and fines can fall in the same range with the maximum for a felony being higher.  I would not have minded the sentence in this case containing a year in jail that was suspended for the length of probation.  A violation of probation would mean the jail time is then to be served. 

[Wenatcheejay]

I don't agree with poaching (of course)

However, I just don't get people here anymore. bobcat said 13k in fines? And people still want blood? Why not call for hanging? So, loss of gun privilages (not a Right, a privliage of the State the way we are going?)

A disclaimer this time: Be Careful What You Wish For. I am sure we could find a Senator that supports all illegal hunting as a felony.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

I don't understand the mindset that something like this should not be a felony.  The statute is clear on the dollar amount that constitutes felony theft. 

I am willing to bet based on what I have read on this site about hating thieves that if your car got broken into and the value of items stolen constituted a felony everybody would be fine with the felony charges.

Is a deer not worth $250.00?  Plus, most of the times the crime is committed with a firearm.  Other crimes committed with a firearm gets an enhancement.

I say the charge should be a felony,  that doesn't mean that a judge or jury cannot convict them of a lesser charge based on a good defense argument or other circumstances that may change things.

Jail time can be suspended, fines can be in the same range.  I don't have the exact numbers regarding fines on hand but a misdemeanor is up to a year in jail and a felony is a year or more and fines can fall in the same range with the maximum for a felony being higher.  I would not have minded the sentence in this case containing a year in jail that was suspended for the length of probation.  A violation of probation would mean the jail time is then to be served.

  

[Curly]

What morons.  He draws a really good Chiwawa tag but instead of hunting hard, they take the easy way out by shooting a buck in an orchard?  Unbelievable.  All they had to do was put in some effort and they probably would have gotten a nice buck in the right unit....

I'm okay with the punishment though.  Seems like fairly stiff penalty for not having a history of offenses............(of course, I do have to wonder how many times they've poached but didn't get caught).  But you can't penalize someone for assuming they've broken the law before and didn't get caught.

[HairTrigger]

GUILTY, hang him  high. any big game poaching incident should result in loss of privaleges life time with heavy $$$$$ fines.these types of acts should rank right up with feloneys.

IMO its just like robbery. Its stealing resources from the public and involves a weapon.

I'm not the only one that said this lol. But y'all act like I did our law is first time loss of rights for a year or so second its a loss for life

[PlateauNDN]

GUILTY, hang him  high. any big game poaching incident should result in loss of privaleges life time with heavy $$$$$ fines.these types of acts should rank right up with feloneys.

IMO its just like robbery. Its stealing resources from the public and involves a weapon.

I'm not the only one that said this lol. But y'all act like I did our law is first time loss of rights for a year or so second its a loss for life

I believe they were talking about the State Laws and the guys that were sentenced???   Could be wrong though???

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

GUILTY, hang him  high. any big game poaching incident should result in loss of privaleges life time with heavy $$$$$ fines.these types of acts should rank right up with feloneys.

IMO its just like robbery. Its stealing resources from the public and involves a weapon.

I'm not the only one that said this lol. But y'all act like I did our law is first time loss of rights for a year or so second its a loss for life

I believe they were talking about the State Laws and the guys that were sentenced???   Could be wrong though???

Max sentence a year no hunting maybe I know of an incident of an untagged buck and the guy hunted the next year but it was a three point blacktail so not a throphy. Lmao what a joke!

[bigtex]

And I definitely don't agree it should be a felony. If he were a repeat offender, then yes, I could see a felony being appropriate. But in this case no way.

There are people who go out and kill several deer in one night, both does and bucks, and leave them lay. No hunting license, it's not hunting season, they just kill for the fun of it. They shoot every living thing they see. This type of crime gets less of a fine than this guy who killed a 4 point mule deer on the wrong side of a GMU boundary.

For the people who kill multiple deer in one night, and leave all the meat to rot, they're the ones that need to be charged with a felony and put in prison. That's the type of person that could end up being a serial killer or a mass murderer, IMO.

There are very few hunting related felonies. The ones that apply to big game is unlawful hunt of big game 1st degree.

There are two routes this offense can be charged:

-Having a previous big game conviction within the past 5 years, and committing another big game offense
-Unlawfully killing 3 or more big game animals within a 24 hour period (often known as thrill or spree killing)

[Biggerhammer]

Looks to me it's all about the money and fines, if they were serious about the offense itself they would have taken their hunting rights for more than two years along with the fines.