superstrutter

Over a month ago I posted where a guy shot two gobblers in a pasture off a road less than 10 miles from my property. He saw them in the pasture, turned around, and shot both of them. He was arrested at his home, about 15-20 miles from where he poached the gobblers. He went to court last weekand plead guilty to all violations. The violations and fines are as follows: 1.) hunting from a moving vehicle $350 2.) taking over the legal limit of turkeys (in LA., you may take only one a day, 2 per season) $350 3.) hunting from a public road $150 4.) hunting without a valid turkey hunting stamp $50 5.) court costs, $140 for each charge 6.) civil restitution to the LDWF for the two turkeys $1,610 7.) placed on probation for a period of two years, during which time both his hunting and fishing privileges will be suspended. The fines totaled $3,070.In your opinion, were these penalties harshenough, or should they have been harsher?

huntingwithjim

I think with a crime like this, the objective is not 'punishment' as much as it is to prevent someone from doing it again. So for me the question is, is the penalty stiff enough to make this douche bag think twice about doing it again? I think it is.

Dead Ducks

Ask your local warden that question www.gamewarden.us

Arjuna

That sounds fair to me, Super. I don't like it poaching and those that do it either, but there has to be some standard. For most folks, three grand is a lot of money. The other advantage to the case being closed is that there is now a reputation and precedent for poachers being caught and fined. If they are going to continue to poach, they've got to work a lot harder at it. That being said, we have a lot of guys who I think like to poach more than hunt. That's the only way it makes sense to me. They seem to enjoy trying to stay one step ahead of the law. ...but I have digressed. Yes, the punishment seems fair in my opinion.