Thought I would share this
08-16-2006, 06:17 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 39
Thought I would share this
This was in our local paper today.
County singer charged with shooting bear in cage
BY TAD VEZNER
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
Between singing and strumming his guitar, country vocalist Troy Lee Gentry has billed himself as a hunting enthusiast and avid bowman.
But the U.S. government believes it's partly a show, according to court documents released Tuesday. Gentry appeared Tuesday in federal court in connection with the killing of a tame black bear that federal officials 1say he bought, shot in an enclosed pen and then tagged as if it had been killed in the wild.
Gentry, 39, of Franklin, Tenn., and Lee Marvin Greenly, 46, owner of a Sandstone, Minn., wildlife refuge, made their initial appearances Tuesday before a federal judge in Duluth. The appearance was in connection with a sealed indictment returned by a federal Minneapolis grand jury in July.
Gentry could not be reached for comment through his Nashville, Tenn.-based agent, Steve Dahl, who did not return a phone call Tuesday.
The government alleged that Gentry and Greenly tagged a captive bear named "Cubby," killed on Greenly's property in October 2004, with a Minnesota hunting license and registered the animal with the state Department of Natural Resources as if it were killed from the wild population. The false tagging would be a violation of the federal Lacey Act.
Gentry allegedly bought the bear from Greenly for about $4,650. The bear's death was videotaped, and the tape later edited so Gentry appeared to shoot the bear with a bow and arrow in a "fair chase" hunting situation. The pair then shipped the bear's hide to a Kentucky taxidermist, the indictment said.
Gentry and Greenly face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted. The two were booked by U.S. Marshals and released on a signature bond Tuesday.
Gentry makes up half of the Kentucky hit country music duo Montgomery Gentry, founded in the 1990s, who won the Country Music Awards' title for Vocal Duo of the Year in 2000. Gentry, along with co-singer Gerald "Eddie" Edward Montgomery, recently put out the song, "Some People Change."
In an August 2005 interview printed in the Sikeston, Mo.-based Standard Democrat, Gentry said he went on his first bear hunt in Minnesota that year, but had been unsuccessful.
"I did get to see a bear and had a great hunt. I am looking forward to going back next year," he said in the interview.
Greenly's mother, Lavonne, reached by phone last night, called her son an "all-American outdoor kid" who had been running a "wildlife refuge" at his 80-acre property at 1894 Old Military Road in Pine County for 15 years. The refuge is billed primarily as a place to shoot photographs.
"He started just showing people animals, then got talked into photography," she said.
According to court documents, Greenly kept multiple animals, including wolves and bears, on his property, called the Minnesota Wildlife Connection. Of the bears, "Cubby" was the biggest.
"Sometimes things go wrong. It hurts me he has to go through all this," Lavonne Greenly added, declining to talk further about the case.
Greenly could not be reached for comment. The government further alleged that Greenly also worked as a commercial bear guide for those wanting to hunt in the Sandstone National Wildlife Refuge, close to his property, where it is illegal to hunt black bears. One client, authorities said, killed two black bears during a hunt in late August and early September 2005.
Greenly faces an additional five years in prison and $20,000 fine for each of those deaths, if convicted.
In 2004, Gentry made news when he said he would pay for the passage of a herd of deer onto Greenly's property, after the deer had been trapped near a Columbia Heights, Minn., reservoir.
Greenly called Gentry a frequent visitor to his preserve.
"He's gone fishing with me. We've gone on motorcycles. I've been to tour dates with him," Greenly said at the time.
County singer charged with shooting bear in cage
BY TAD VEZNER
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
Between singing and strumming his guitar, country vocalist Troy Lee Gentry has billed himself as a hunting enthusiast and avid bowman.
But the U.S. government believes it's partly a show, according to court documents released Tuesday. Gentry appeared Tuesday in federal court in connection with the killing of a tame black bear that federal officials 1say he bought, shot in an enclosed pen and then tagged as if it had been killed in the wild.
Gentry, 39, of Franklin, Tenn., and Lee Marvin Greenly, 46, owner of a Sandstone, Minn., wildlife refuge, made their initial appearances Tuesday before a federal judge in Duluth. The appearance was in connection with a sealed indictment returned by a federal Minneapolis grand jury in July.
Gentry could not be reached for comment through his Nashville, Tenn.-based agent, Steve Dahl, who did not return a phone call Tuesday.
The government alleged that Gentry and Greenly tagged a captive bear named "Cubby," killed on Greenly's property in October 2004, with a Minnesota hunting license and registered the animal with the state Department of Natural Resources as if it were killed from the wild population. The false tagging would be a violation of the federal Lacey Act.
Gentry allegedly bought the bear from Greenly for about $4,650. The bear's death was videotaped, and the tape later edited so Gentry appeared to shoot the bear with a bow and arrow in a "fair chase" hunting situation. The pair then shipped the bear's hide to a Kentucky taxidermist, the indictment said.
Gentry and Greenly face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted. The two were booked by U.S. Marshals and released on a signature bond Tuesday.
Gentry makes up half of the Kentucky hit country music duo Montgomery Gentry, founded in the 1990s, who won the Country Music Awards' title for Vocal Duo of the Year in 2000. Gentry, along with co-singer Gerald "Eddie" Edward Montgomery, recently put out the song, "Some People Change."
In an August 2005 interview printed in the Sikeston, Mo.-based Standard Democrat, Gentry said he went on his first bear hunt in Minnesota that year, but had been unsuccessful.
"I did get to see a bear and had a great hunt. I am looking forward to going back next year," he said in the interview.
Greenly's mother, Lavonne, reached by phone last night, called her son an "all-American outdoor kid" who had been running a "wildlife refuge" at his 80-acre property at 1894 Old Military Road in Pine County for 15 years. The refuge is billed primarily as a place to shoot photographs.
"He started just showing people animals, then got talked into photography," she said.
According to court documents, Greenly kept multiple animals, including wolves and bears, on his property, called the Minnesota Wildlife Connection. Of the bears, "Cubby" was the biggest.
"Sometimes things go wrong. It hurts me he has to go through all this," Lavonne Greenly added, declining to talk further about the case.
Greenly could not be reached for comment. The government further alleged that Greenly also worked as a commercial bear guide for those wanting to hunt in the Sandstone National Wildlife Refuge, close to his property, where it is illegal to hunt black bears. One client, authorities said, killed two black bears during a hunt in late August and early September 2005.
Greenly faces an additional five years in prison and $20,000 fine for each of those deaths, if convicted.
In 2004, Gentry made news when he said he would pay for the passage of a herd of deer onto Greenly's property, after the deer had been trapped near a Columbia Heights, Minn., reservoir.
Greenly called Gentry a frequent visitor to his preserve.
"He's gone fishing with me. We've gone on motorcycles. I've been to tour dates with him," Greenly said at the time.
08-16-2006, 06:36 AM
#2
Dominant Buck
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ramsey , Indiana
Posts: 22,545
RE: Thought I would share this
Somewhere Russ Bellar is smiling ... 
This story is symptomatic of the cancer of commercialized hunting and the ever growing thrust to take a bigger trophy than the last guy , and it will hurt us all in the long run from the bad publicity . First it's half of Brooks and Dunn and a well known fishing pro , now it's half of Montgomery Gentry , who's next ? Remember , these are just the ones who are getting caught , disease rarely infects only a single person , and a disease is exactly what it is .
This story is symptomatic of the cancer of commercialized hunting and the ever growing thrust to take a bigger trophy than the last guy , and it will hurt us all in the long run from the bad publicity . First it's half of Brooks and Dunn and a well known fishing pro , now it's half of Montgomery Gentry , who's next ? Remember , these are just the ones who are getting caught , disease rarely infects only a single person , and a disease is exactly what it is .
