Well yesterday my brother came across an ugly scene not far from Glenrock Wyoming. 16 Antelope lay dead and dying on and beside the road, victims of a hit and run with no skid marks to indicate anyone cared enough to even slow down. My brother dragged about 8 off the road that were in the way and the remainder were scattered by the roadside. The impact was hard enough to knock the horns off of the Bucks. My brother called the landowner and the Fish and Game officer for the area. There has been lots of Oil and Gas traffic on the road and they found a piece of a white freightliner fender laying there. The Officer said he had never seen anything like this before in a single accident and that he would find the truck and driver and have a "talk" with him. The trucks that drive that road move at a high rate of speed as you can imagine, just turns my stomach that he never even hit the brakes to avoid them or stopped and dragged them off the road or finished off the does and fawns that lay dying next to the road.

That is pure carnage, I hope the driver is caught and fined.

What a sad sight that it.

I hope they hit the driver where it hurts -- deep in the pocketbook.

Accidents sometimes can't be avoided, but simply leaving the scene and, as far as we know, not notifying anyone, is inexcusable.

If possible, the animals should have been put down. While it may technically be illegal, I don't know of anyone who actually paid a fine for an act of mercy. (Tickets may sometimes be written, but those are generally thrown out immediately.)

A couple years ago, someone ran over a doe and left her in the roadway with a broken back. All I had to do was call the warden, and I was immediately granted permission to do the right thing.

I don't like what happened but I can understand why he may not have hit the brakes.

Don't know what direction he was heading or if that turn continues but it is very possible that had he the brakes he would have lost control and left the roadway.

Doesn't excuse unsafe driving but we weren't there.

Hey Mike I can understand not hitting the brakes when you risk running a big rig off the road, jacknife or worse but still the guy could have stopped and drug the bodies off the road and killed the ones that were left for hours dying it just seems like the responsible compassionate thing to do.

That is a pretty sick sight to come upon! If it was a big rig, and maybe low light conditions I can almost side with the driver, but on the other hand, it is total disregard for wildlife. Below is an article from a year ago, little diffferent curcimstances.

Snellstrom, have you sent the photos and story to the Casper Star, or the Billings Gazette? SAme paper but different reporters. If you don't want to, I would do so with you and your brothers permission!



'Steep fines' for gas worker
Story Discussion MEAD GRUVER Associated Press writer | Posted: Friday, March 21, 2008 12:00 am | No Comments Posted

Font Size: Default font size Larger font size CHEYENNE - A gas field worker who deliberately drove into a herd of antelope and got caught after photos of two carcasses and comments bragging about the killing appeared online has pleaded guilty and been fined $6,000.

"If you're going to use the Internet and brag about things, you've got to be ready to deal with the consequences of what falls out," Mike Choma, law enforcement supervisor for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said Thursday.

Jonathan Hefner, 24, pleaded guilty Feb. 29 to two counts of wanton destruction of a big game animal. Circuit Judge Victoria Schofield sentenced him to 360 days in jail with all time suspended, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Schofield also sentenced Hefner to a year of unsupervised probation, suspended his hunting privileges for five years and ordered him to pay the Game and Fish Department $3,000 for each antelope.

Hefner, of Rock Springs, did not have a listed number. A message left with his attorney, Harold Moneyhun, wasn't immediately returned Thursday evening.

Sweetwater County Attorney Brett Johnson said he was satisfied with the guilty plea and sentence.

"The fines are steep - far more than what you'd see in any other kind of misdemeanor," Johnson said Thursday.

The Wyoming governor's office released printouts of the online discussion board in December. The postings included photos of mangled and bloody antelope carcasses, and of a man giving a thumbs-up next to the blood-splattered grill of a pickup truck. Another photo showed a severed antelope head with "HA HA!!!" written over it.

Investigators said they learned of the postings through an anonymous tip on the state's "Stop Poaching" Web site. They said they traced the license plate on the blood-splattered truck grill to Hefner.

Investigators said Hefner worked for National Oilwell Varco and was driving a company truck when he deliberately drove into the herd of about 20 antelope on a remote stretch near Farson.

They said they recognized the area from the photos, which were dated Dec. 7, and had no trouble finding the antelope remains

quote:

killed the ones that were left for hours dying it just seems like the responsible compassionate thing to do.

It is illegal to do so in Wyoming, and I agree it is the proper thing to do, but it depends on the warden. Seeing vehicle killed, maimed, and crippled wildlife is pretty common here in Wyoming. Last November I was Whitetail hunting along the river, which runs adjacent to a highway, right at dusk a small buck came out of some russian olives, and I noticed he was limping, through my scope I could see his hind quarter was bleeding and he was dragging his leg, he was hobbling towards an alfalfa field, I shot him, punched my tag, and took him to the game warden.

Had this been a TRUE accident the driver would have done something, at least call the Fish and Game or Highway Department. But, this is clearly a sadistic hit and run - the criminal should be put in jail and fined.

I have been a truck driver for 17 years and have unfortunately hit my share of wildlife. Panic breaking is a good way to end up in the ditch.In most cases it is better to hit the animal.
Hitting the goats is an unfortunate accident. That being said leaving the animals to suffer in the ditch is inexcusable! I have always stopped an put down any wildlife that I have hit. I have also been given a ticket for doing it and fought in court and had it thrown out. Any driver who would leave those animals do die a slow death is a P.O.S and should be fined and thrown in jail! Just my opinion for what it's worth.

Killing any animal with a vehicle is unfortunate for both animal and driver. However, this driver’s apparent lack of compassion for the animals and not responsibly taking care of the situation by notifying the fish and game dept is morally inexcusable.

disgusting!completely disgusting

Snellstorm,

Not condoning his behavior at all was just saying he may not have hit the brakes for a reason.

Most oilfield companys will not let folks carry a firearm with them in the truck,much less on oil leases.Sad none the less.Good Luck

No need for a gun. Most drivers carry a large hammer for checking tires ect.. I have put a few deer down that have been hit (mine and others) one whack in the head and it's all over. It's not pleasant but it is a better option than letting the animal suffer. I am sure that an oilfield truck would have a hammer or winch bar in it. At the very least he could have called the authorities. Not having a firearm in the truck is not an excuse.

A bad deal for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by GrayDuck:
Killing any animal with a vehicle is unfortunate for both animal and driver. However, this driver’s apparent lack of compassion for the animals and not responsibly taking care of the situation by notifying the fish and game dept is morally inexcusable.

Ditto that. Well said.

Cheers
Canuck

when you're driving 80,000#'s down the road at 60MPN braking takes awhile to slow down. that much weight has lots of momentum, something other drivers should keep in mind too

Hey butch thanks for pointing out the obvious. So because his rig is hard to stop that should relieve the driver of any wrongdoing?

Did the driver break the law? Don't get me wrong I do not like what I see but I also wonder what the legal ruling would be?

Not reporting this to law/Game departments would be wanton waste of wildlife. At least the driver could have fed numerous homeless people. I would lay money he bragged to someone about taking out a herd of Antelope, which by the way is excellent meat. No doubt some meat could have been salvaged. I wouldn't necessarily condemn the driver unless it was proven he could have avoided it, but to let that meat go to waste is unforgivable. Let alone the prolonged suffering to some of the animals.

quote:

Originally posted by GrayDuck:
Killing any animal with a vehicle is unfortunate for both animal and driver. However, this driver’s apparent lack of compassion for the animals and not responsibly taking care of the situation by notifying the fish and game dept is morally inexcusable.

Well said.

+1

+2

ddj

THere have been numerous times that I can remember freight trains hitting herds of antelope trapped on the tracks by deep snow. Over a hundred head one time wiped out.

Fucker. Very poor judgment on driver's part.

Pardon my obscenity, btw, but I believe it to be appropriate.

Having lived in Wyoming and seen my share of wildlife run over I can't blame the driver not knowing the circumstances. I once hit an antelope that was still alive after the hit but he was badly broken up. I finished him and stopped at the next little store 25 miles away, called the game warden and he said I did the right thing, nothing else was said. This was before Wyoming was californicated and there was some reason in the system.

While the driver definitely should have pulled the carcasses out of the road and notified the G & F the idea of putting them(the ones still alive)out of their misery needs to tempered by the fact that maybe he didn't want to get ticketed for taking big game out of season or taking game without a license, not to mention wanton destruction by leaving the carcasses of the animals he put down after the accident. Wyoming has pretty friendly game laws and for the most part easy to follow, but if you kill a wounded animal without a valid license, even to stop it's suffering, you can get in pretty deep crap.

Most of the cattle wagons around here have those big bad grill guards.

The oilers may have them too.

There may have been one on that truck.

I'll bet his boss was on his ass and he had the hammer
down.

Or the driver of that truck just finally got tried of letting off, braking,
gearing down getting back up to speed, only to do it all over again, for the 7 billionth antelope herd.
I'd bet he finally got sick of that and ran them over.

For those of you who don't know,
Antelope will run right down the middle of the road,
thinking they can out run whatever it is thats chaseing them. in this case? probably pissed off oil field worker driveing a 180,000 # potato masher with 600hp.
Just think of the singles and pairs the guy plowed thru before anybody noticed this big kill.
I'll bet there's a couple hundred of those.
These 16 are just the tip of an iceburg.
Timan

i don't buy the worry of being charged with
taking out of season,
at least here in wyoming there isn't a jury that would convict you of ending an animal's suffering.
even if you were the person who hit them.
thankfully there is that much common sense left in the state.
besides its the RIGHT thing to do no matter the attitude or possible punishment.
it would be the responsibility of the next person on the scence capable of
"putting them down"
there would be no hesitation on my part and the laws be damn if they were againest the act.

not to defend this carnage, but if that driver had stopped and put those animals down with a firearm he would now be in jail. The fedguv restrictions on drivers and firearms is written in stone. Have a firearm in the vehicle and you lose your CDL (guaranteed forever) and usually do federal prison time. You often see small groups of speed goats running parallel to a back road and then execute a flanking movement right across the road in front of you. It will purge your digestive tract if you're lucky. If not, you'll be wearing pieces and parts festooned on your vehicle and perhaps one thru your windshield.
Sad to read and view; but big trucks sailing along at 65+mph do not stop or swerve well. You generally have them laying on one side or the roof and human casualties.

Rich

Pretty gross picture but a whole lot of assigning blame and assumptions by a whole lot of folks that are dealing from a short stack of information. 'Course I've never notice the AR contributors to be shy about making a rush to judgement.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
i don't buy the worry of being charged with
taking out of season,
at least here in wyoming there isn't a jury that would convict you of ending an animal's suffering.
even if you were the person who hit them.
thankfully there is that much common sense left in the state.
besides its the RIGHT thing to do no matter the attitude or possible punishment.
it would be the responsibility of the next person on the scence capable of
"putting them down"
there would be no hesitation on my part and the laws be damn if they were againest the act.

I would like to agree with you Raven, but know of one who was ticketed here just outside of Jeffrey City for putting down a deer hit by hwy traffic-not even one he hit-just trying to do the right thing. I completely understand where you are coming from though, I just think the nature of the LE response is determined by the officer you get, and not so much by common sense. Thankfully I don't ever intend to whack 16 goats in a swipe, so hopefully I will never have to find out how I would respond.

I was ticketed for taking a big game animal out of season in MT. I put down a mulie doe that a car in front of me hit it the highway patrol officer that arrived on the accident saw me do it and called the fish and shame and they gave me a citation. 3 weeks later I showed up for my court date plead guilty and the judge threw it out of court immediately saying that I did the right thing. I had one of the few common sense judges left in the U.S. If I had a different judge it could have been a different story.

Below is a quote from my brother who was first hand on the scene, reported it to the Wyo. Fish and Game and was obviously the first to stop at the scene even though truckers kept going by and not stopping. I do not dispute that it is difficult if not dangerous to stop a big rig in an emergency stop situation, my bet is this guy did not even care and probably made multiple trips by the scene that morning, I wish I could have heard the radio chatter between these truckers that morning.

"Hey Dave something you can add to the AR post is this was not a county road, but a ranch road that was posted 30 mph. When I was coming into the ranch before daylight I passed 2 tanker truck’s that had ran right over the Antelope where they lay in the road. I knew they did not just hit them, when I pulled them off the road they were already starting into rigger. When I went back to take photo’s I noticed a fawn still breathing on the bank and cut it’s neck. I did see a doe off the road that was not moving well, wanted to shoot her but did not. Went up in about an hour to shoot the doe and met the game warden, he had shot the doe and a fawn that I had not seen in the sage. "

Snellstrom Am not saying its right but IMHO a public forum is not the right place for this!
The last thing anybody needs is someone putting their nose where it dont belong!

It is hard for anyone to pass judgement with out knowing all the particulars. But there is nothing wrong with anyone posting an incident such as this on a hunting forum.
There is rarely any attempt by large trucks to avoid wildlife collisions in this state, I drive close to 15,000 miles a year on Wyoming roads, and see it all the time, in the Big Horn Basin, you can tell it is beet harvesting season, by the number of dead deer and antelope on the roads. I am glad Dave posted it and wish he had forwarded the photos and report to the Casper Star.

THIS public forum is EXACTLY where this belongs
welcome to accuratereloading.com

quote:

Originally posted by Mach V:
Snellstrom Am not saying its right but IMHO a public forum is not the right place for this!
The last thing anybody needs is someone putting their nose where it dont belong!

This is not a public forum but a private forum that is privately owned by saeed. We are all members and are governed by a fixed set of rules.

My nose is in no way offended of this post being here.

I'm not taking a side on this at all, but how deep a hole would the EPA dig for the driver/owner for an overturned tank truck and the associated cleanup? It might be SOP to not perform emergency maneuvers for wildlife.

It might somewhat explain the hitting of the animals, but not the lack of action thereafter.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
not to defend this carnage, but if that driver had stopped and put those animals down with a firearm he would now be in jail. The fedguv restrictions on drivers and firearms is written in stone. Have a firearm in the vehicle and you lose your CDL (guaranteed forever) and usually do federal prison time.

Rich

Think you may want to read the law. Title 18 Setcion 926(a). The peacable journey law.


TITLE 18–CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I–CRIMES

CHAPTER 44–FIREARMS

Sec. 926A. Interstate transportation of firearms