spectr17
01-29-2003, 09:22 PM
IDAHO FISH AND GAME
SALMON REGION NEWS RELEASE
Salmon, ID
Date: January 27, 2003
Contact: Vicky Runnoe
(208) 756-2271
Moose Poacher Nabbed in Salmon
By Tony Latham, Senior Conservation Officer
The morning broke crisp and frosty over Agency Creek. The young bull moose had spent his summer in this drainage and had grown accustomed to travelers stopping to stare. Returning their stares momentarily, he would return to the business at hand, continuing to feed or nap as the people moved on their curiosity satisfied.
But this morning would be different. The vehicle stopped but did not move on and a poacher’s .30-caliber bullet slammed into the bull’s hindquarter, severing his femoral artery and cutting a path into his intestines. Staggering away, the young moose was only able to travel a short distance before collapsing from blood loss. The last sound the animal heard were the approaching footsteps that ended with a shot that severed his spine.
Later that same morning, October 6, 2002, Fish and Game received a call. The caller reported finding a sick moose while returning from deer hunting. The caller and a friend had thrown sticks at the moose, but it refused to get up. Believing that the moose may have been illegally shot and left to rot, five Conservation Officers converged on the scene to investigate. They were looking for the answers to two questions. Who? And why?
An on-scene necropsy of the moose revealed that it had indeed been shot and killed. The officers documented and collected evidence from the scene and salvaged the meat so it would not go to waste, as it would otherwise have done. Deer hunters in the area were contacted and interviewed. Initially, the investigation focused on a juvenile who was camped in the area. After a short interview, the young hunter was dismissed as a suspect and became an important witness through his descriptions of two possible suspect vehicles.
The occupants of the first vehicle were interviewed and eliminated as suspects. However, the description of the remaining vehicle was curiously similar to that of the truck driven by the hunter who reported the incident. Interviews with that driver uncovered the fact that the passenger in this truck had shot a deer that day, his second of the season. Upon locating the passenger, James Davis of Salmon, Idaho, evidence linking him with the illegally shooting of the moose was immediately found. During an interview that evening, Davis first denied shooting the moose. But later Davis admitted to shooting the moose in the neck to end its suffering. He denied knowing who shot the initial bullet into the animal.
Witness interviews continued and James Davis finally admitted to shooting both bullets into the moose. Davis explained that his friend reported the incident to Fish and Game because they did not want the animal to be wasted.
In a plea bargain, charges against Davis involving the over-limit of deer were dropped. Davis pled guilty to a felony charge of unlawfully killing a bull moose. On January 23, 2003, Judge James Herndon sentenced James Davis to the following:
Incarceration by the Idaho State Board of Corrections for two to five years.
Suspension of incarceration and probation for five years.
$1,000.00 fine.
$10,000.00 civil penalty.
$175.00 meat processing fee.
Suspension of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges for five years or longer if the civil penalty is not paid in full.
Prohibited from being in the company of any person who possesses a firearm for the purpose of hunting or trapping. Or being in the presence of any person transporting wildlife during the five-year probationary period.
Shall serve 30 days in the Lemhi County Jail.
Shall sell the rifle used to shoot the moose.
Unfortunately, the moose that James Davis illegally killed is but one of many illegal animals that were reported to Conservation Officers throughout the Salmon Region this autumn. All these animals were killed and left to rot.
SALMON REGION NEWS RELEASE
Salmon, ID
Date: January 27, 2003
Contact: Vicky Runnoe
(208) 756-2271
Moose Poacher Nabbed in Salmon
By Tony Latham, Senior Conservation Officer
The morning broke crisp and frosty over Agency Creek. The young bull moose had spent his summer in this drainage and had grown accustomed to travelers stopping to stare. Returning their stares momentarily, he would return to the business at hand, continuing to feed or nap as the people moved on their curiosity satisfied.
But this morning would be different. The vehicle stopped but did not move on and a poacher’s .30-caliber bullet slammed into the bull’s hindquarter, severing his femoral artery and cutting a path into his intestines. Staggering away, the young moose was only able to travel a short distance before collapsing from blood loss. The last sound the animal heard were the approaching footsteps that ended with a shot that severed his spine.
Later that same morning, October 6, 2002, Fish and Game received a call. The caller reported finding a sick moose while returning from deer hunting. The caller and a friend had thrown sticks at the moose, but it refused to get up. Believing that the moose may have been illegally shot and left to rot, five Conservation Officers converged on the scene to investigate. They were looking for the answers to two questions. Who? And why?
An on-scene necropsy of the moose revealed that it had indeed been shot and killed. The officers documented and collected evidence from the scene and salvaged the meat so it would not go to waste, as it would otherwise have done. Deer hunters in the area were contacted and interviewed. Initially, the investigation focused on a juvenile who was camped in the area. After a short interview, the young hunter was dismissed as a suspect and became an important witness through his descriptions of two possible suspect vehicles.
The occupants of the first vehicle were interviewed and eliminated as suspects. However, the description of the remaining vehicle was curiously similar to that of the truck driven by the hunter who reported the incident. Interviews with that driver uncovered the fact that the passenger in this truck had shot a deer that day, his second of the season. Upon locating the passenger, James Davis of Salmon, Idaho, evidence linking him with the illegally shooting of the moose was immediately found. During an interview that evening, Davis first denied shooting the moose. But later Davis admitted to shooting the moose in the neck to end its suffering. He denied knowing who shot the initial bullet into the animal.
Witness interviews continued and James Davis finally admitted to shooting both bullets into the moose. Davis explained that his friend reported the incident to Fish and Game because they did not want the animal to be wasted.
In a plea bargain, charges against Davis involving the over-limit of deer were dropped. Davis pled guilty to a felony charge of unlawfully killing a bull moose. On January 23, 2003, Judge James Herndon sentenced James Davis to the following:
Incarceration by the Idaho State Board of Corrections for two to five years.
Suspension of incarceration and probation for five years.
$1,000.00 fine.
$10,000.00 civil penalty.
$175.00 meat processing fee.
Suspension of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges for five years or longer if the civil penalty is not paid in full.
Prohibited from being in the company of any person who possesses a firearm for the purpose of hunting or trapping. Or being in the presence of any person transporting wildlife during the five-year probationary period.
Shall serve 30 days in the Lemhi County Jail.
Shall sell the rifle used to shoot the moose.
Unfortunately, the moose that James Davis illegally killed is but one of many illegal animals that were reported to Conservation Officers throughout the Salmon Region this autumn. All these animals were killed and left to rot.