Operation Bear Bones

[CouesWhitetail]

Hi All,

 

This article was provided to me by John Koleszar and it was published in the latest issue of "The Tracker" (AZ Elk Society newsletter).

 

The first page describes the illegal activities and the next page lists the court actions taken for each individual.

 

 

[DesertBull]

Unbelievable! Most of the charges dropped and the biggest fine was $1500.

 

One guy got off with a $25.00 fine. That's cheaper than buying a bear tag.

[missedagain]

What a waste of time! So the g$f spends 2000 hours of time puting this case together at a cost of probably 6 figures and they collect about 4000 from 16 criminals. What a joke! It looks like it is much cheaper to just poach animals and pay a small fine every decade or so then the hundreds it costs to hunt legally every year

[.270]

one of em got a $25 fine. now there's a waste o' time if i ever saw one. i don't know who to be more dissapointed in, the poachers or the azgfd. is that all they get? Lark.

[Buckhunter]

wow, what a dissapointment. What if this happened on the Reservation. More than likely you would have you guns taken away for good big fines, jail time, and possibly even your transportation you used during the crime. What a joke. What do you think the message their trying to convey to everyone who reads this is? Shoot what you want now and if you do get cuaght you can pay the cheap fines.

[ronaldo]

This has been my argument for a long, long time. Its cheaper to poach and take your chances than to hunt legally...

If I was a younger man, I would be practicing what I preach. I guess as you get older, you get more sense...LOL

How many of these boneheads do you know???? I know several and it dont surprise me....I dont think they will ever learn.

Ronaldo.

 

 

 

 

 

What a waste of time! So the g$f spends 2000 hours of time puting this case together at a cost of probably 6 figures and they collect about 4000 from 16 criminals. What a joke! It looks like it is much cheaper to just poach animals and pay a small fine every decade or so then the hundreds it costs to hunt legally every year

[Packer]

i don't know who to be more disappointed in, the poachers or the azgfd. is that all they get? Lark.

 

Now there's a good attitude. Is it the game and fish's fault for the small fines? Are they the ones that set these rates? Do you think that they feel this is what the bad guys deserve? No is the answer to all those questions. It is our marvelous court system that sets these fines, you know those judges that we all vote in. The Game and Fish has no say in what a guy gets charged.

Additionally this is on the criminal side of things. These people are still going to face civil assessments in front of the commission. This has the probability to bring alot heftier fines along with revocation of hunting and fishing privilidges.

Anyway, it is pretty disappointing to hear all these responses from sportsmen. When fingers should be pointed at those who committed the crimes all you can do is again blame the game and fish for doing a poor job when they did their job and our court system is the one that let them off.

VERY DISAPPOINTING

 

Packer

[DesertBull]

i don't know who to be more disappointed in, the poachers or the azgfd. is that all they get? Lark.

 

Now there's a good attitude. Is it the game and fish's fault for the small fines? Are they the ones that set these rates? Do you think that they feel this is what the bad guys deserve? No is the answer to all those questions. It is our marvelous court system that sets these fines, you know those judges that we all vote in. The Game and Fish has no say in what a guy gets charged.

Additionally this is on the criminal side of things. These people are still going to face civil assessments in front of the commission. This has the probability to bring alot heftier fines along with revocation of hunting and fishing privilidges.

Anyway, it is pretty disappointing to hear all these responses from sportsmen. When fingers should be pointed at those who committed the crimes all you can do is again blame the game and fish for doing a poor job when they did their job and our court system is the one that let them off.

VERY DISAPPOINTING

 

Packer

 

 

I agree, it's the courts, but if you read the document you will see that the Commission has already acted on several of the cases. Biggest fine was $1500.

[IHunt2live]

I feel the same way. I think these guys got off pretty easy. Don't know what they did with the bears but they could have made money in this deal.

[ac guy]

I guess I'm not reading this right. The way I see it, one guy paid over $4500 in fines and restitution, and another guy paid over $3000. Still not enough IMO.

[.270]

if you think the azgfd didn't have any input in the fines and penaltys, you oughta think again. they are part of the court system and they have a lot of say in the outcome. i've also seen some guys get off with the right judge, when they shouldn't have, but the wardens had a lot to do with how this all went down. Lark.

[Packer]

if you think the azgfd didn't have any input in the fines and penaltys, you oughta think again. they are part of the court system and they have a lot of say in the outcome. i've also seen some guys get off with the right judge, when they shouldn't have, but the wardens had a lot to do with how this all went down. Lark.

 

 

You couldn't be more wrong!! Ya people get off with the right judge because they are locals and know the individual or something like that, not because of what the warden does. If you only knew what you were talking about.

 

Packer

[Guest 300ultramag.]

if you think the azgfd didn't have any input in the fines and penaltys, you oughta think again. they are part of the court system and they have a lot of say in the outcome. i've also seen some guys get off with the right judge, when they shouldn't have, but the wardens had a lot to do with how this all went down. Lark.

 

 

You couldn't be more wrong!! Ya people get off with the right judge because they are locals and know the individual or something like that, not because of what the warden does. If you only knew what you were talking about.

 

Packer

 

 

Ouch

[.270]

heck, you ain't seen how wrong i can get. i can always get wronger. there ain't no limit to my wrongness. but i've seen the azgfd spend all kindsa time on cases only to roll and let em off easy. or do a horrible job in their investigation and give the offender a loophole to squirm through. anytime somebody gets off with a $25 fine, the time they spent on that guy was a waste of time. the shootin' horses deal is bothersome too. it says they were strays. how often you see a stray horse in that area? i lived there a long time and don't recall seeing 6 stray horses total. i couldn't be more wrong........now that's funny right there, i don't care who ya are. opinions are like buttholes. everbody has one and all of em but mine stink. that's my opinion anyway. Lark.

[cmc]

but i've seen the azgfd spend all kindsa time on cases only to roll and let em off easy. or do a horrible job in their investigation and give the offender a loophole to squirm through.

 

(snip)

 

that's my opinion anyway. Lark.

 

 

Ok... I'll bite...

 

Name a few of the cases please...

 

cmc