a mile or a foot, what's the difference??? is the speed limit 55 or 56 mph? is your draw length 28" or 29"? according to the law its black and white, there is no 100ft buffer... the difference does not matter...

I think it does matter. Had they found the carcas within a 100 yards of the zone line, I doubt he would have been prosecuted. He new what he was doing when he KNOWINGLY broke the law. He lied about it. He'd see some cell time if it was up to me. Let's say you own some land. One morning you find a hunter gutting a deer on your property. He says he shot it on a adjacent land parcel andtracked it a couple hundred yards across your CLEARLY marked property line. Walking back to the property line, you discover his tree stand 50 yards into your property. You wouldn'twant him hammered to the max extent of the law? People like this think the law is made for everyone but them.

I would say the personally owned private property would put this in a different realm than hunting public land... as i said, there is no gray area about what the law stipulates, he either broke it by hunting out of his "zone" or he didn't... certainly the officers could have cut him some slack, but thats an enforcement decision made thru the judgement of the officer, not what the law stipulates...


and for what its worth, I just don't get the whole jail time for this offense thing... this is kinda of a victimless crime, no way should anyone ever be jailed for such an offense unless it caused the death/dismemberment of another human or something like that... no different than going over your limit while out crappie fishing... does someone deserve to go to jail for having 51 or 52 crappie when the limit is 50?? i can't see a reason why this is different in any way... to me it sounds like the villagers grabbin their pitch forks to go lynch someone for making a mistake... punish him, most certianly, but lets not forget we're talkin about breaking a hunting law, not raping, murdering, drug dealing, DUI, molesting, robbing, kidnapping and etc... in the scope of people that need to be put in jail I'd say any of those need to be there long before this guy needs to be, especially considering how minor drug offenses are taken care of these days (even folks convicted of statuatory rape are OFTEN not given jail time)...

i know i'm not changin anyones minds, not really tryin to, just tryin to understand why this offense is so terrible compared to others that are even worse and get less punishment and how some people justify that view...

He broke the law and now he's going to pay for it. Serves him right...

Your rationalizing SevenMag. Comparing apples to oranges.He knowingly broke the law and lied about it. Somehow lessening the severity of hunting laws by comparing them to rape and murder is absurd. So, unless the crime is rape or murder, nobody should be prosecuted for their crimes or the punishment should be light, because it's not rape or murder?

I think it is great! Wish he was punished more severely. I also wish there were more agents and tougher laws in my state. Trespassing and poaching must be stopped.Hang um!

ah, i see, so when a person convicted of statuatory rape or criminal sexual assault of a minor (i've got a neighbor convicted of this) does ZERO NADA jail time and pays a 1500 dollar fine, does it make it right/fair to condemn someone to jail time for poaching??? should we institute a poaching offenders database??? yes, it sounds ridiculous, i know... but you're twisting my words... what i'm getting at is this... since when did hunting laws become such a serious blight/affliction on society as to warrant jail time in our already over-crowded system??

and no, i'm not rationalizing... what i'm seeing is a double standard... our criminal justice system lets much more serious offenses off light and we as a group (hunters in general) are sitting here moralizing about how this guy should do jail time... laws and their enforcement is what bothers me about the whole thing... i just want the dangerous ones behind bars, poachers are not a threat to society... if pulling a poacher out of a jail so i can get another rapist, murderer, kidnapper, or WHATEVER in there instead, so be it... we simple don't have the space to put everyone in jail and i'd be willing to bet that most people dont want the tax increases required to pay for more prisons, after all, tax cuts seem to be helping, no??

believe me, i'm all for making criminals pay the price, particularly those that endanger society... i just can't make jail time for poaching fit into my view of being a danger to society... kinda like how i dont think a college kid busted with a joint in her pockets should be doin 8yrs in state prison (an actual case here in IL about 8-10 yrs ago)... all i'm sayin is that the punishment should fit the crime, that's it, not advocating light sentencing or whatever, I just can't see poaching as an offense worthy of jail time (or the huge fines stated earlier)... as a hunter and fisher I can't stand poaching either, it is wrong, period and shouldn't be tolerated... but wrapping my head around sentencing a guy to jail time for the situation as it was laid out, no way in heck could i do that... i know i'm bein long winded about this, sorry... but appropriate sentencing touches a soft nerve with me... the guy that killed my brother didn't serve a SINGLE DAY in jail... did not pay a single dollar in fines... so I've seen it work the other way as well, and I'd hate to see a decent person who made a mistake get his life potentially ruined (jail time could cost him his job, his livelihood, cost his family, and etc.)... it not right to ruin a mans life over poaching, just as its not right to let someone off who's ruined someone elses life... there has to be appropriate punishment...

I bet ya if he could back and do it all over again, he wouldn't chose the same path. Do you think he will poach again?

Everything seems about right to me. I'm guessing the fine is about equal to what it would cost to hunt with an outfitter with access to private ranches and good bulls.

Good lesson.

Colorado used to have a set fine of $750 for illegal possession. Some of the well heeled non-resident hunters were starting to look at the fine as a reasonable "toll" to pay for a trophy elk. So the trophy definition was added to the regs with fines about ten times as high as what is listed for small bull elk or a cow elk. This seems to have have worked. Imagine coming home from a hunting trip and explaining to your sweet wife how we're are going to have to mortgage the house tocome up with $10K to pay the fines.