quote:

Sadly, the 45 state Wildlife Violator Compact agreement only kicks in if the offender does not show up in court and does not pay the fine. A $23,000 fine is no detriment to this guy and will not keep him from hunting in 43 other states during the 1 - 2 years he is prohibited from hunting in Wyoming.

I do not believe this is the case. A convicted person is subject to the Compact regardless if he or she pays the fine, serves jail time or even has a sentence suspended.

I can cite many examples from reports I have included in my Rocky Mt. In The Field column, which I've been writing since 1988, where the original press release usually states something along the lines of, "...in addition to the fine and restitution, Joe Poacher will not be able to legally hunt in the 44 states that are members of the...." IOW, it's not an "instead of" punishment but an additional one.

Below is a recent, unedited press release from WY G&F:

A hunter on the national TV show called “Hunting in the Sticks” on the Pursuit Channel talked about doing an elk and mule deer hunt on the public lands of Wyoming during an episode called “Western Redemption.”

Ricky Mills admitted on the air he and his partner, Jimmy Duncan, “didn’t know what we were getting into.” What the hunters got into was a whole lot of trouble.

During the episode, an alert viewer notified the authorities after noticing that the area they claimed to have killed elk didn’t match the area of their licenses, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

The tip led to an exhaustive investigation and a case was built against the poachers, both of whom are from Bedford, Kentucky. It came to a conclusion Monday when the hunters confessed and faced the consequences.

Mills and Duncan both pled no contest to numerous wildlife violations. They will pay fines totaling more than $31,000 and lose their hunting privileges for 15 years in 43 states participating in the Wildlife Violator Compact.

Duncan was sentenced to pay $17,740 in fines, restitution for the elk and antelope, and court costs. Mills was sentenced to pay $13,700 in fines, restitution for the elk, and court costs. Both forfeited their elk mounts to Game and Fish.

“This case could not have been made without the assistance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources agents,” Mike Ehlebracht, investigative supervisor for the Wyoming Game and Fish, said in a statement. “Through search warrants and interviews we were able to make a case and both men confessed.“I believe the two defendants were driven to get kill-shot footage for the television show and that resulted in their making bad decisions.”

At the conclusion of the investigation, it was determined that in 2014 while deer hunting in Deer Hunt Area 10 in northern Converse County, Mills and Duncan each killed a mature bull elk on private property. Both men also had elk licenses that same year, but the licenses were valid for Elk Hunt Area 51, which is in extreme northwest Wyoming bordering Yellowstone National Park, not for Elk Hunt Area 113 where they shot the elk. Elk Hunt Area 113 is a highly coveted hunt area with very few licenses. In this hunt area, bulls are only allowed to be harvested every other year.

It was also discovered that the two defendants attempted to do the same thing in 2013. Other evidence showed that Duncan harvested an antelope buck in September 2013 without a license. The two were also charged with waste of big game animals in connection with the two illegally harvested elk, along with a small game violation.

Tony,
I hope you are correct. A member of International Wildlife Crimestoppers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is currently working on a program for all 45 states to plug into wherein at the time of application the applicants identifying information such social security # will be immediately cross checked to determine if the applicant has been convicted of a wildlife crime in any of the compact states.

Interestingly enough, some states at the time of application, automatically cross reference the applicants info versus the database of delinquent child support payment.

I wonder what will happen at the border or the airport when ole Bill Busbice tries to go to Canada to hunt this fall. There has been much written about how Canada does criminal background checks of hunters going in to hunt. Some have been turned away for failing to mention something like a DUI 20 - 30 years earlier.

Stan,

Here in AZ, the game department uses SSNs the same way in regards to child support. So they already have them on record if the database comes to fruition. That would make it quite a bit better than it is now and more like the one used for firearms sales.

BTW, just to clarify what I said in my last message, NOT EVERY person convicted of a game violation is subject to the Compact restrictions. If I recall, it depends on what the individual game departments do first.

IOW, if someone is convicted in Colorado and they suspend that person's hunting privileges due to that violation, then the Compact restriction also kicks in.

Here in AZ, the AZ Game Commission holds a separate hearing for license suspensions that takes place after the violator has his day in court.

And this from the original post in this thread:

"Judge Zebre sentenced Mr. Busbice to 180 days of jail suspended, providing that he lead a law abiding life during one and a half years of unsupervised probation; he was sentenced to pay the maximum fines for both violations and the maximum in restitution for the illegal take of both elk for a total of $23,000.00; and had all of his game and fish license privileges revoked for two years to include all of 2017 and 2018. Because Wyoming is part of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, this loss of his license privileges applies in 45 states, including his home state of Louisiana.

Someone here is beginning to sound a little familiar.

Statement by Bill Busbice

Last October, I inadvertently shot a female calf elk while attempting to shoot a bull elk. To make matters worse, I left the scene and failed to report the incident to the warden. The failure to immediately notify the warden was horrible judgment on my part, and for that, I was fined, placed on probation, and lost my privilege to hunt.

To be clear, the shot was an accident, and while the failure to report my mistake was inexcusable, I have never and would never intentionally poach. This incident is not reflective of who I am as an outdoorsman. I have spent over 40 years speaking out against poaching and will continue to do everything I can to rebuild trust with the outdoor community.

I am deeply sorry for what I did and I am aware that I breached the trust of my fellow hunters in the process. I have accepted the consequences of my mistake and hope everyone will forgive my lapse in judgement.

Respectfully,
Bill Busbice



Unreal even after pleading out he still comes across as an idiot. He never notified the warden, nor had any intent of notifying the warden. and had his cameraman and ranch manager hide the elk in a ditch and leave it. What an ass.

And I think the difference is IMMEDIATE versus AUTOMATIC. When I volunteered with the Kansas DWP, the response from the database was less than a second, which in my books makes it IMMEDIATE. Now, I will agree that AUTOMATIC would be much better.

Yes - the Larry Shores diatribe is beginning to sound familiar.

quote:

Originally posted by Stan Montoya:
Yes - the Larry Shores diatribe is beginning to sound familiar.

Hmm...is this Echoanne back under yet another alias??? Indeed sounds familiar.

Sounds like the same troll to me.

Well, looks like our "New" troll got caught up with!

It is supposed to have 27 posts, but it is not listed in the New Members list.

Perhaps he/she has been banned already.