Kirt Darner has been busted again. What a shame.



New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, FEB. 2, 2006:

GRAND JURY INDICTS GAME PARK OWNERS IN ILLEGAL ELK TRANSPORTATION CASE

GRANTS – The owners of two private elk hunting parks were indicted Wednesday by a Cibola County Grand Jury on a total of 41 felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with an alleged operation to illegally drug and transport wild elk, and for allegedly receiving stolen bighorn sheep heads.

Kirt L. Darner, 66, and his wife Paula D. Darner, 49, owners of the 40-acre Lobo Canyon Ranch north of Grants, were charged with several felonies, including receiving stolen property, transportation of stolen livestock, and tampering with evidence. They are accused of illegally moving as many as four state-owned elk from the Lobo Canyon Ranch to the Pancho Peaks ranch and game park in southeastern New Mexico in 2002. The Pancho Peaks Ranch is owned by Steve W. Lewis of Artesia.

Lewis, 46, was indicted on two felony counts of conspiracy in connection with his alleged role in acquiring or providing the animal tranquilizer, xylazine hydrochloride and its reversal agent, yohimbine. Zylazine hydrochloride, a state and federally controlled substance, allegedly was used to sedate the large bull elk so they could be moved.

Department of Game and Fish officers who executed a search warrant at the Darner property in February 2005 also discovered a desert bighorn sheep head and a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep head inside a vehicle. Further examination of the heads indicated they allegedly were stolen from a Montrose, Colo. , taxidermy shop in 2000.

“These are serious crimes that we intend to vigorously prosecute,†Cibola County District Attorney Lemuel Martinez said. “We need to send a strong message that we won't tolerate it when people try to illegally transport, drug and profit from wildlife that is owned by the citizens of New Mexico .â€

If convicted, Kirt Darner could face a maximum 33-year jail term on nine felony charges, Paula Darner could face 24 years in jail on six felony charges, and Lewis could face 3 years in jail on two felony charges. The Darners and Lewis are expected to be arraigned in Cibola County District Court sometime in the next few weeks.

This guy needs to spend a LOT of time in jail.

MG

They need to put on cat costumes and run across the small game hunting board. But on a serious note they need to be incarcerated and roomed up with Tyrone. They will get what is coming to them. What a couple ball sacks.

JAIL? Hell no. Mr. Darner is just a little misunderstood and probably had a difficult childhood. I say fine him $25 on each count. Im sure he would never reoffend.

Ah, another fine example of high ethical standards displayed by the game farm industry. Imagine that. But hey, they were just tryinig to get rich by stealing from the rest of us, so no big deal, right? I hope these guys get to spend lots of time behind a high fence topped with razor wire...

40 acres is a ranch? That's not even a large field here. I hope they stick it to them.

Do they allow soap on a rope in prison?

That is exactly what he had, just 40 acres in a high fence. I broke the original story on it in The Independent when I was a bureau reporter in Grants for The Independent. He had more elk than he had documentation for and when asked about it, Darner said the elk may have accidentally gotten shut in when he fenced the 40-acre compound. It must have been one of those instant-popping 40-acre high fences. The list of confiscated items from the alleged game ranch did in fact have a set of bighorn sheep horns in the mix. If they came from Montrose, Colo., and ended up stolen on his place outside of Grants, New Mexico, I hope the feds get involved in it. Let's see now, that's the Kirt Darner thing, and just recently Adrian Romero and his wife were indicted by a Cibola County Grand Jury in an alleged counterfeit elk tag operation. When you have criminals violating probation and getting sentenced to more probation by the Cibola County Judicial System as punishment, it's no wonder the area has become a ripe breeding ground for crimes like these. That said, Cibola County has some of the best people in the world living there. I know, I've met many of them. Tom Purdom

I say, send him to Brokeback Prison for his 33 years.

One mistake in the article...Xylazine and yohimbine are not controlled substances. As a veterinarian, I could prescribe these to anyone that is a client. Maybe there is a state issue, but none at the federal level AFAIK.

MFH

What, private "game ranches" stealing public elk? This certainly must be the first time this has ever happened in New Mexico. Right?

In my opinion, it should not be legal to "ranch" any native species.

quote:

Originally posted by MFH:
One mistake in the article...Xylazine and yohimbine are not controlled substances. As a veterinarian, I could prescribe these to anyone that is a client. Maybe there is a state issue, but none at the federal level AFAIK.

MFH

Nope, they're not controlled..all that is needed for a Rx is a doctor-patient-client relationship...which means the prescribing veterinarian needs to know the "owner" of the animals and needs to have examined the animals for which the drugs were prescribed.

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
In my opinion, it should not be legal to "ranch" any native species.

What did he do before this?

He ran a guide and outfitting business in Colorado. When he got busted in Cibola County he and his wife took off for Colorado again and I assume they are living there now. Kirt Darner wrote a book about hunting mule deer. His book sold fairly well, I am told. Before coming to Cibola County, Darner had a boatload of trouble in Colorado with the Colorado wildlife folks. Do a Google search on Kirt Darner and you can get the name of his book. Tom Purdom

Back in the 80's he was considered THE MAN as far as trophy mule deer went. He had a bunch of huge mounted mule deer. Only prob was he never had a picture of a freshly killed deer. He said the areas he hunted to get these monsters were so rough that his camera made his backpack too heavy! Right! As most know that has followed him, he was killing them out of season on winter range. He was a big hero in HUNTING mag until he got busted. He had disappeared and this is the first I've heard of him lately. Seems as if the leopard hasn't changed his spots.