poacher – Syndication Server

‘Rare game species’ poached in Oregon; reward set at $4,500

Authorities say the poacher removed the head and horns from the bighorn sheep ram and left the carcass to waste.

A $4,500 reward is being offered in Oregon for information leading to the felony arrest of the poacher who killed a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep for its head and horns.

The carcass was discovered last Nov. 30 on BLM land near Hibbard Creek Road south of Baker City. An investigation has turned up few leads.

“It’s so hard to believe that someone would shoot and waste such an amazing animal,” Kevin Martin, president of the Oregon Wild Sheep Foundation, stated in an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife news release.

“The Lookout Mountain herd of bighorn sheep is an area ODFW, Wild Sheep Foundation, OR WSF and our partners have been focusing a lot of resources to understand what has caused the ongoing loss of animals and this criminal act just adds to that loss.”

Oregon is home to about 800 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and hunting is strictly regulated, with only about 100 tags issued each year.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife states on its website: “Bighorn sheep tags are ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ so you can only draw the tag once. If you are lucky enough to do so, scouting and being physically prepared for their rugged country are key.”

The poacher had no tag and left the carcass to waste.

Illegally killing a bighorn sheep in Oregon carries a penalty of up to $10,000 in fines, suspension of hunting license, and forfeiture of the weapon used to kill the sheep.

“In this case, additional charges of waste of a game mammal would likely apply,” the ODFW added.

The $4,500 reward was put up by multiple groups and announced Thursday.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oregon State Police Dispatch at 1-800-452-7888, *OSP (*677), or email at TIP@osp.oregon.gov.
Tipsters can choose to remain anonymous.

Poacher threatens to kill landowner, gets jail and lifetime hunting ban

A 22-year-old man apparently learned nothing from his previous conviction for poaching. Will his punishment this time be enough deterrence?

A 22-year-old man pointed a gun at and threatened to kill a landowner who confronted him about illegally hunting at night with a spotlight from a vehicle during a closed season.

William Franklin Stamey Jr., who had a previous poaching conviction and obviously did not learn from his poor choice, received a felony conviction for his latest misdeeds, which cost him $12,500 in restitution, along with fines and court costs. The 22-year-old also was banned for life from hunting and forfeited a spotlight, a muzzleloader, a rifle, and a compound bow, along with deer meat, turkey parts and 14 deer racks.

On Friday, Stamey pleaded guilty in Hawkins County Circuit Court to aggravated assault, spotlighting deer, hunting from a motor vehicle, and a second and third offense of hunting big game in closed season, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency disclosed in a Facebook post.

“Stamey was ordered to serve six months of a four-year sentence for the aggravated assault charge, and six months for each of the hunting big game in closed season charges, with all jail time to run concurrently,” the post stated.

Last August 16 around 11:30 p.m., Stamey and an accomplice were hunting from a road on McKinney Chapel Road and, aided by a spotlight, killed a doe and a seven-point buck from their vehicle during a closed season.

When a landowner confronted him, Stamey pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him.

The landowner presumably contacted law enforcement, and later that night a Hawkins County Sheriff’s deputy stopped the poachers and discovered them to be possession of a spotlight and hunting rifles. Stamey and the driver were taken into custody and a third vehicle occupant was charged as an accessory. The driver and the accessory will appear in court later this month.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was contacted and an investigation uncovered further poaching activity.

When Wildlife Officer Justin Pinkston went to serve Stamey with a criminal summons on September 15, he discovered a buck deer carcass in his backyard. Records indicated that Stamey had checked the deer in as an archery harvest on August 27, but did not possess an archery license.

Four days later, TWRA executed a search warrant on Stamey’s residence where 11 more sets of deer antlers were found; Stamey admitted to poaching them. He also admitted to shooting a bearded hen turkey in 2022. he failed to check it in as required by law.

“Over a three-and-a-half-year period, Stamey was charged with killing or assisting in killing 15 deer illegally, and admitted to poaching 20 deer from the road in 2020 alone,” Pinkston said. “Sadly, most of these deer were left lying and were never recovered.”

In May 2021, Stamey entered a plea agreement for spotlighting, hunting from a public roadway and deer hunting in a closed season in Greene County in November 2020. Further details were not revealed about that case.

Boy, 11, helps Oregon troopers nab deer poacher

The boy was home sick from school when he witnessed the unlawful killing of a deer on private property.

An 11-year-old Oregon boy has been rewarded $1,000 for providing a tip that led to the arrest of a deer poacher.

The Oregon State Police explained in a news release that the boy, Gage, witnessed the unlawful killing and retrieval of a deer on private property.

Gage was home from school with an illness at the time. He reported the incident via the state’s Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline.

The reward came from the Oregon Hunters Association and Gage told OSP troopers that he was considering using some of the money to purchase gaming goggles.

–Image courtesy of the Oregon State Police

Bears, wolf and bighorn sheep poached in same Oregon county

Authorities in Oregon are investigating recent poaching incidents involving black bear cubs, a gray wolf, and a bighorn sheep.

Each incident occurred in Baker County during the last week of November, and in each case the animals were killed unlawfully and left to waste.

It was not known if a single poacher was responsible.

The Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Division stated in a news release that on Nov. 27 two bear cubs were found dead off USFS 77 Road inside the Keating Wildlife Management Unit.

Both animals had been shot.

On the same day, Fish & Wildlife troopers, acting on a tip, found a wolf carcass near Sparta Road, also within the Keating Wildlife Management Unit.

On Nov. 30, a trooper responded to the discovery of a bighorn sheep ram that had been shot and left – without its head and horns – near Hubbard Creek Road within the Lookout Mountain Wildlife Management Unit.

The Lookout Wildlife Management Unit is directly below the Keating Wildlife Management Unit.

The Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Division is asking for the public’s help in identifying the person or persons responsible for the unlawful killings.

The agency’s tip lines are 800-452-7888 or *OSP (for mobile phone users). Rewards are being offered in each case.

–Generic black bear image courtesy of ©Pete Thomas

Man turns himself in for wildlife crimes prompted by ‘elk fever’

The sight of an elk herd numbering about 30 animals was apparently too much to resist for a man who repeatedly shot into the herd.

The sight of an elk herd numbering about 30 animals was apparently too much to resist for a 66-year-old man who repeatedly shot into the herd as if it were his own shooting gallery, and later blamed “elk fever” for his illegal actions near Nehalem, Oregon.

Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Troopers cited the unidentified man for shooting from a road, unlawful take/possession of antlerless elk, and unlawful take/possession of bull elk. The troopers seized a .308 rifle for evidence, along with the elk the man had tagged and processed, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The man had permission to hunt on private property. He legally killed a cow elk, field-dressed the animal and left the area, the landowner told officials.

“The guy came out and stopped at the road, and started shooting,” the landowner said. “I told another hunter, who said the guy shouldn’t have left. He should have called state police and turned himself in.”

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Instead, the landowner called the man and encouraged him to return to the field, call OSP and turn himself in for poaching, which is what the man did. Had he not, the landowner presumably would have done so.

The subject expressed remorse after the event and blamed “elk fever.”

Once OSP F&W Troopers reached the scene, they found three wounded elk wandering with the herd of about 30 animals. A trooper put down a mortally wounded cow elk, and the following day, troopers put down a mortally wounded bull. A wounded cow elk ran into the Nehalem River and presumably drowned.

Fortunately, the elk meat was not wasted. Two elk went to the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde and one elk went to the Tillamook County Jail.

Generic elk photos courtesy of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Poacher doesn’t care to be ethical hunter, claims addiction to venison

Man facing 10 charges for illegal deer hunting makes outrageous claims and admissions to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

A man who admits to being an unethical hunter but doesn’t care because he claims to be addicted to venison was in court last week for a pretrial hearing regarding the 10 charges he faces relating to illegal deer hunting in Michigan.

Scott Kevin Meisterheim, 55, of Kalamazoo was arraigned earlier this month in 8th District Court of Kalamazoo County for taking white-tailed deer outside of lawful hunting hours (one count), hunting white-tailed deer without a license (two counts), using deer hunting licenses of someone else (two counts), taking an over-limit of antlered white-tailed deer (two counts) and transporting/possessing untagged antlered white-tailed deer (three counts).

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources also reported that it requested additional charges for illegal baiting, failing to immediately validate/attach kill tags and using another’s hunting license.

DNR conservation officers began investigating Meisterheim in February 2022 after receiving tips via its Report All Poaching Hotline.

Several witnesses spoke to Conservation Officer James Nason about the suspect’s illegal hunting activity from October to December 2021.

From the DNR:

Evidence collected during the investigation revealed that Meisterheim took at least 11 deer from Oct. 1-Dec. 24, 2021, including three deer Oct. 1, and that he believed he was “tagged out” the first week of archery season. Within three days, Meisterheim let two deer spoil; those were rejected by the processor due to their condition…

Meisterheim, who was hunting without a hunting license, during all hours of the day and while using illegal bait [sic], also obtained other people’s deer tags to cover his illegal deer, if he even tagged them at all.

While serving time in the Kalamazoo County Jail for domestic abuse, Meisterheim made his outrageous claims and admissions in an interview with Nason.

“Sure, I love to kill deer,” he said. “If I could kill more I would, to be honest with you.”

He also said he “is not the most ethical hunter, tagging other people’s deer, but I don’t care—I am addicted to the venison.”

Meisterheim also claimed that injured deer would stumble to and die near his hunting location. This was the reason he gave for being in possession of so many deer.

He also hunted several private properties without permission in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

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“This is an excellent investigation of a poacher who shows no respect for the resource or the ethics of fair chase,” said Chief Dave Shaw, DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Violations of this type deprive law-abiding people of their opportunity to have access to and enjoy a public trust natural resource, in this case white-tailed deer.”

Meisterheim is due back in court in February. He is currently serving 18 months’ probation for aggravated domestic assault in Kalamazoo County.

Photo of the suspect with a deer and generic image of a white-tailed deer courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

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Deer poacher charged in ‘crime of opportunity’ using headlights

A 21-year-old has been charged with several crimes involving the illegal shooting of three black-tailed deer bucks near Coos Bay, Ore.

A 21-year-old in Oregon has been charged with shooting three black-tailed deer bucks out of season near Coos Bay, hunting with the aid of artificial light and wasting the meat.

After a lengthy investigation, Oregon State Troopers developed a suspect, interviewed him on Dec. 5 and ultimately charged Macen M. West of North Bend with the crimes, the Oregon State Police announced.

Authorities are asking for restitution of $3,000, a three-year minimum suspension of West’s hunting rights, and the forfeiture of his Savage 93r 17 rifle, which retails new for $380.

West faces three counts of taking game in a closed season, three counts of waste of a game mammal for poaching three black-tailed bucks and leaving them to waste, and hunting with the aid of artificial light. The crimes occurred on the weekend of March 19, 2021.

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“It was a crime of opportunity,” Sergeant Levi Harris said in an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife press release. “We believe the shooter drove around a corner, saw the deer in the headlights and made a poor, shocking, impromptu decision to hop out and shoot those deer.”

From the ODFW:

The deer, likely transfixed by the light, would have been easy targets. He would have had time to aim and drop each deer individually. In a normal hunting situation, a single shot at one deer would have startled others into flight. Black-tailed deer hunting season was closed at the time.

All three deer were shot in the head, from relatively close range, according to Sergeant Harris. Because the deer were found so close together, investigators believed early on that the poacher had used a spotlight or vehicle headlights to blind the deer.

There were no footprints or tire tracks leading to the site according to Joseph Metzler of Coos Bay, who discovered the scene the morning of Monday, March 23. That morning, traveling on his ATV, Metzler noticed crows congregating in the area. As he rounded a bend in the road, he came upon the deer carcasses directly in front of him, on the hillside.

“As soon as I came around the corner, there they were, and if it had been dark, they would have been standing right in front of my headlights on the hillside,” he said.

Metzler was pleased that OSP was able to pursue the case and ultimately solve it.

“It goes to show you that if you turn in poachers, it might be a while, but they can find them,” he said.

Photos courtesy of ODFW.

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Suspected poacher caught with 2,611 pompano over the limit

A commercial fisherman in Florida has been cited for unlawful use of a gill net in a restricted area and possessing 2,611 pompano over the allowable limit.

A commercial fisherman in Florida has been cited for unlawful use of a monofilament gill net in a restricted area and possessing 2,611 pompano over the allowable limit.

Ronald Edward Birren, captain of the 48-foot vessel Legacy, was confronted by officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in federal waters, 5.5 miles south of the Pompano Endorsement Zone inside the Gulf of Mexico.

The net was aboard the boat, bristling with its catch.

The boat was escorted back to Everglades City, where FWC officers determined that the net contained 2,711 pompano. (Fishermen outside the endorsement zone are allowed up to 100 pompano as bycatch.)

The weight of the catch was nearly 4,000 pounds. Some of the fish were undersized.

Birren, 52, of Hernando Beach, was cited for possession of more than the allowable bycatch limit, and undersized pompano.

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The FWC did not disclose the day Birren was cited, but in a news release issued Monday, Maj. Alberto Maza, FWC South Region B Commander, stated: “Our officers are dedicated to protecting our state and federal fishery resources. Violations such as this one highlights the importance of the work that these men and women do every day.”

Monofilament gill nets are banned in Florida state waters and restricted in federal waters. Violations pertaining to their use in state waters constitute third-degree felonies.

Trophy moose poacher receives lifetime hunting ban

A Montana hunter who illegally killed a trophy-size moose in 2019 has received a lifetime ban from hunting and trapping in the state.

Shiloh Berry, 41, pleaded guilty last fall to unlawfully possessing and waste of a game animal, and hunting without a valid license. He was sentenced Friday in Broadwater County Court District.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Berry also received a three-year fishing ban and was ordered to pay $12,100 in restitution. He also received a suspended five-year jail sentence.

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An investigation was launched in November 2019 after Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks received a tip on its anti-poaching hotline. Wardens found the decapitated moose 17 miles east of Townsend. Nearby were “distinctive” tire and boot prints.

In April 2020, wardens were tipped off that Berry was in possession of moose antlers said to have been found at the same location. An authorized search of Berry’s premises turned up the antlers, which were an impressive 56 inches wide.

His boots and truck tires were found to have made the prints discovered at the scene. Berry confessed to killing the moose during interviews with wardens.

–Moose image courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Hunter hit with fines, suspensions for poaching bighorn sheep

A Montana resident has been fined more than $5,000 for illegally killing a bighorn sheep and leaving the meat to waste.

Harold Horine, 45, shot the bighorn sheep ram on Nov. 22 in the Highland Mountains. A witness contacted Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks after discovering the abandoned carcass.

Horine later told FWP wardens that he mistook the sheep for an elk.

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In a news release issued Wednesday, FWP stated that Horine pleaded guilty in Madison County Justice Court on Dec. 7. Charges included hunting without a valid license, unlawful possession of a game animal, hunting on private land without permission, and waste of a game animal.

Horine, who is from Deer Lodge, was ordered to pay $5,245 in fines and restitution. Additionally, his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges were suspended for two years.

–Bighorn sheep image courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service