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Ignored post by smarterthanu posted 22 April 2011 18:42

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I've had you on ignore for some time now, but anytime you immediately follow one of my posts, I'm pretty sure it's drivel. We all know that you condone poaching.More lies You're on record as condoning it all over these forums.Only under certian extreme circumstances.

I find that a little strange from someone that claims to be a taxidermist because if you're cuaght with poached animals in your shop you would be held liableMore Lies. Most people in the hunting and wildife industry take a very dim view of poaching and don't climb up on a soapbox to condone it.More lies

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Ignored post by smarterthanu posted 22 April 2011 21:45

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I'm sorry. It seems as though my drivel filter is still in place. That will be all. You may go out and play like a good little boy.

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Ignored post by smarterthanu posted 22 April 2011 22:37

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Ignored post by smarterthanu posted 23 April 2011 00:20

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NINE YEAR INVESTIGATION RESULTS IN CONVICTION OF REPEAT POACHER CODY- An investigation spanning nine years, involving several cooperating agencies and two States is came to a close with the sentencing of Gary C. Vorhies (formally of Greybull, WY) for the illegal killing of four whitetail buck deer. Vorhies was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Thomas Harrington, September 12, 2009. Vorhies initially pleaded not guilty to the violations—later he changed his mind. In a letter to Judge Harrington, Vorhies requested that his court appointed counsel be released and that he be allowed to change his plea. Harrington approved his request and Vorhies pleaded no contest to three of the four charges against him and guilty to the fourth charge. After Harrington established a factual basis for the charges he accepted Vorhies plea and pronounced sentence.
Vorhies will remain in the Big Horn County jail for an additional 311 days, pay $17,000 in fines and $10,000 in restitution. Restitution is compensation for the loss of the resource to the State. Vorhies was credited for 54 days already served in jail. Three additional one year jail sentences were suspended provided he does not violate the law during that period. For a period of four years after his release he will be on supervised probation during which time he will not be allowed to possess any type of equipment designed to take wildlife or be in the presence of anyone involved with the take of any wildlife or be found on public lands where wildlife is present. These lands also include private lands enrolled in the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Walk-In and Hunter Management Areas. Judge Harrington stated that Vorhies is also prohibited from antler hunting on public lands while on probation. Vorhies’ hunting, fishing and trapping license privileges were previously revoked by the Park County Court until 2051.



This is what's wrong with government agencies. How many tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars did the state spend investigating one man over a nine year span for poaching Four Deer? That same money could have been spent changing the carrying capacity of thousands of acres, to produce hundreds of more deer that you could be hunting. They could have positively effected the range habitat for nine years therefore allowing for more licenses to be sold, allowing for more revenue for the state, therefore allowing for more hunters dollars to be used for conservation. Instead they pissed it away for nine years going after some dumbass that killed four deer. They don't investigate kiddy rapers for nine years!

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A serial poacher with ties to Cody is in jail in Big Horn County after more than three years out of state.

“He was aware these charges were pending against him,” game warden Bill Robertson of Greybull said. “That has kept him from returning to Wyoming.”

Gary Vorhies, 47, faces poaching charges from three incidents:

•In fall 1999, Game & Fish says Vorhies poached a 4x4 white-tailed buck with a broken brow tine near Greybull, his former home.

Robertson said the deer had an unusual tine. It was taken out of season and while Vorhies was suspended from hunting.

Robertson said Vorhies used an interstate game tag falsely obtained and declared the deer was killed in 1990.

•In September 2000, Vorhies allegedly shot a five-point white-tail deer near Burlington without a license.

•In November 2000, Vorhies allegedly guided an out-of-state hunter west of Shell to a white-tailed buck, which the hunter shot. Vorhies told him not to tag it and guided him to another, G&F say. The hunter took home the meat from both. Later that day, Vorhies allegedly shot another deer without a license.

Robertson said consequences may be pending for the out-of-state hunter, who has cooperated with G&F.

The investigation into the three incidents began as G&F wrapped up a case against Vorhies in Cody, but the evidence took months and even years to surface, Robertson says.

For example, the broken-tine deer showed up at a taxidermist but then disappeared, only to resurface later with another taxidermist.

With Vorhies in Colorado, establishing a case against him became more challenging.

“To leave the state and interview him took quite a bit of effort,” Robertson said.

Deputy Big Horn County Attorney Jim Hallman said Vorhies has been charged with three misdemeanors: taking an antlered deer without a license, conspiracy to take an antlered deer without a license and wanton destruction of a big game animal.

All are misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of one year in prison each. Destruction of a big game animal is punishable by a maximum fine of $2,000.

The charges of conspiracy and taking big game without a license carry a fine of $5,000-$10,000 each.

Vorhies appeared in circuit court Aug. 5 and pleaded not guilty. Bond is set at $28,000, and trial is scheduled for January. Hallman said Vorhies waived extradition from Colorado and remains in the Big Horn County Jail.

Vorhies in Cody

Vorhies became notorious in Cody after two poaching incidents.

“In Mr. Vorhies’ words, he’s like an alcoholic who can’t not take the next drink. He has no ability not to take the next shot,” game warden Craig Sax said.

“Guys like this simply will not stop poaching,” Sax said. “He has no self-control and will not stop.”

In 1992, Vorhies was convicted of poaching the “Growler Elk,” a 365 in Boone and Crockett scoring. He published pictures of the animal in hunting magazines.

Shot on the Two Dot Ranch, Growler became part of an G&F antipoaching display in the Casper regional office. The mount was later stolen from the building and remains at-large.

Robertson said Growler and a trophy-class mule deer were both stolen.

“There were no suspects identified. There’s been no leads,” Robertson said. However, Vorhies apparently had been in the office that week and is a “person of interest,” he added.

Bighorn rams

On Christmas Eve 2000, Sax received a call from a man who’d been taking pictures of bighorn sheep near Newton Creek on the North Fork.

He told Sax one of the bands of sheep no longer had its big ram. He looked at another spot he’d seen sheep and noticed a dead ram on the hillside.

“I think somebody shot it,” the man told Sax.

Sax began to look for suspects and soon spotted Vorhies and Cody J. Canady in a pickup with blood on the tailgate.

They told Sax they’d been taking pictures and had no weapons.

Sax looked behind the truck seat and saw a rifle.

“They went with a plan to kill bighorn sheep,” he said.

Then-sheriff’s deputy Scott Steward and then-Division of Criminal Investigation agent Bryan Skoric arrived, warning Sax that Vorhies was a known poacher and had a warrant out for failure to pay a fine for employment fraud.

When Vorhies learned his truck would be impounded, “he proclaimed that he wanted to talk to me,” Sax said.

Vorhies admitted killing two bighorn rams. Sax found in Vorhies’ backpack a scrotum, backstraps, knives, a camera, a saw, hunting vest and other gear.

Pictures on the camera showed Vorhies and Canady posing with a slain ram. In one trophy picture, they are shaking hands above the animal.

In the truck’s toolbox, Sax found a ram’s head and cape. Sax later found the body hidden under branches against a tree on a steep slope.

The other ram was killed from the road and left to die with an arrow behind its shoulder. Sax said it was in too visible a location for them to risk harvesting it.

In court, G&F testified that it takes luck to draw a bighorn ram tag (a four in 100 chance) or an average of $38,700 to buy one at auction.

Sax said thousands of people wait for the opportunity to hunt the animals.

“The demand outstrips the supply, and that’s why they’re such a valuable trophy,” he said.

In 2001, Vorhies was sentenced to four years jail with $52,000 in fines and restitution for two counts of wantonly taking a bighorn ram and two counts of taking the animals with no license. The two year jail sentence was suspended, and he ended up spending only about one year in jail, Sax said.

Vorhies was banned from possessing or being near hunting equipment, watching hunting, having contact with hunters or with Sax and being in national forests or state parks. His pickup was forfeited to the state.

Vorhies told the court poaching made him “feel alive.”

Wildlife are not safe if Vorhies possesses a gun, Sax testified at the sentencing hearing.

“The person who chooses not to take the shot is the real sportsman, not the one killing everything he sees,” Sax said.

“He’s left a trail of death, but real hunters know it’s the hunt itself,” Sax said. “He has a different agenda than the rest of us.”

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What you don't know about Gary Vorhies SMU, is that this guy is a serial poacher and has illegally killed more trophy class animals than you have ever seen. We pay game wardens to protect our wildlife resource here in WY, and I for one think they do a pretty good job.

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Only one thing I can conclude from smu's posts: he's OK with poaching. If you follow his logic you would allow all crime to go unpunished if it takes a long time and a lot of money to catch up to the perp. And, this was a crime. Nope. Never said that or think that. Why do I feel like I am dealing with woman logic here?

Obviously, there were factors which we did/do not know for why it took so long to catch this guy. NINE YEARS! Maybe some of the investigators died of old age before they made the collar????So, your willing to give these people a pass so you can have more game to hunt? Sorry, JUSTICE does not work that way.

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Originally posted by perry:
On a cost to benefit scale it was a huge waste of tax payer dollars! Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to lock the guy up for a year??? Makes no sense.
The game dept. head should have teamed up with the IRS and got this guy on taxes instead...something with some teeth.

Perry

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Last time I checked, the majority of state wildlife agencies (Wyoming included) are not funded by tax payer dollars.

Dollars spent by hunters and anglers on licenses, excise taxes on sporting goods and ammunition is what funds these agencies.

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smu- You are confusing the issue. This is about justice concerning crimes committed. Taxes, funding, F&G management policies are a different matter. I too, like most, do not like waste & mismanagement in gov't but I am not willing to let that interfere with the pursuit of justice. What if the government wants to spend nine years and millions of dollars to catch one repeat DWI offender? Meanwhile the guy that breaks into houses and sodomizes little girls gets about two weeks and a couple of phone calls and thats called an investigation?(And, yes, I do pay significant taxes, more than most.)

Further, this started out on the subject of the criminal's 2010 offense. Then, you got adrift by bringing in the nine yr old investigation,Nope. Go back and read. Someone else brought that to the table. as if that supports your contentions. You also make assumptions about the effort & cost of bringing the guy to justice. There is only the report of how long it took to catch the man. Nothing is detailed of how the investifation was conducted & what it cost.Do you think paying those wardens for nine years is chump change?

We know that the perp went out of state & that complicated matters. We also do not know if there was a continuing, ongoing investigation for nine yrs; I suppose not. Like many investigations they start & stop, then pick up again, etc.

This guy is an egregiously, serial poacher. They should have pursued him even if it took 20 years! He was not going to stop & may be at it again after he complets the current sentence. Put it another way; if this were a serial pedophile would you give him a pass because it took a long time & great expense to catch up with him?Sexual assault and poaching aren't even in the same ballpark. But if you want a better example, If this guy shot my dog I would not want the county spending nine years and unlimited dollars catching him, and this deer is no better than my dog, or yours. Its just an animal.

Rather than lighten up on this guy I would rather see effort spent making sentencing more harsh. (The original sentence was four yrs, still not harsh enough, PLUS monetary fines and restitution. For some crazy reason he only served about one year.) I would point out that the fines & restitution, at the very least, offset the costs of bringing the guy to justice.Even if they get payed which they won't just to house the guy for one year in a state prison is an average of 54K a year in Texas. I can't imagine Wyoming being much cheeper.

Vorhies was sentenced in 2001; any indication he has offended again? Maybe he learned his lesson. I have been reading a few accounts lately of harsher sentences for game violations; hope so.

smu- I guess we will just have to agree to disagree about this subject. That's one of the things so great about this country,; we have the freedom (and the opportunity) to spout our opinions.
one year.)

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Originally posted by Moose_drool:

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Originally posted by perry:
On a cost to benefit scale it was a huge waste of tax payer dollars! Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to lock the guy up for a year??? Makes no sense.
The game dept. head should have teamed up with the IRS and got this guy on taxes instead...something with some teeth.

Perry

Last time I checked, the majority of state wildlife agencies (Wyoming included) are not funded by tax payer dollars.

Dollars spent by hunters and anglers on licenses, excise taxes on sporting goods and ammunition is what funds these agencies. As a sportsman, I'm glad someone is out there protecting the wildlife resource. After being convicted on illegally killing a trophy class bull elk, two trophy bighorn sheep, and four whitetail buck deer over the course of 15 years what else do you think this guys has in his shed? He has robbed more opportunity from legal hunters that either of you can imagine and needed to be stopped.

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The kid did something stupid and is going to pay the price. I think he will learn a lesson from this. I don't think he should lose his hunting rights for the rest of his life for poaching a deer on his first offense. It's not like he walked in a mall and shot people he shot a deer that 99% of people would not have a chance to shoot. I would bet it lived mostly on private land.

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It was private, but was shot in a walk in area, open to the public. He was shot during a late whitetail season in 164. This buck spent most of the summer and early fall in area 125, (seen him numerous times every summer and early fall, over several years), and on private (accessable) and BLM. Each fall after 164 would close, mid Oct. this buck would simply cross the highway from area 125 into 164. 125 is a November season. How else do you think he got so big? Lots of people knew about him and many took photos of him.

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How the hell does anyone equate an 18 year old with being a "Kid"????????

He is an ADULT, he can serve in the military and vote, that is an adult by anyone's standard.

What if he had been 19? Would he still be a kid making a mistake?

Why are so many people willing to turn their head about poaching?

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Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
How the hell does anyone equate an 18 year old with being a "Kid"????????

He is an ADULT, he can serve in the military and vote, that is an adult by anyone's standard.

What if he had been 19? Would he still be a kid making a mistake?

Why are so many people willing to turn their head about poaching?

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Originally posted by perry:

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Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
How the hell does anyone equate an 18 year old with being a "Kid"????????

He is an ADULT, he can serve in the military and vote, that is an adult by anyone's standard.

What if he had been 19? Would he still be a kid making a mistake?

Why are so many people willing to turn their head about poaching?

NO ONE is turning their head. What is turning your head about 9k in fines and license suspension???? You are coming across pretty dense here and from reading your other posts you seem pretty intelligent. When you are YOUNGER, NOT NECESSARILY A KID BUT YOUNGER, one tends to make poor decisions. We have all done things under the age of 25 we would never dream of doing now. He screwed up, IS PAYING THE PRICE, and will hopefully learn a valuable lesson. If he returns to the hunting society "reformed" he is a much better asset than if he is banned for life. If he is like the rest of us who did stupid things at a younger age he will be wiser on the flip side.

Perry

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Do you have any pics of this deer (live or dead), if so, please post.