More Utah Poachers

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younggun20

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http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7676076

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A call to Utah's Turn-in-a-Poacher hotline has resulted in a major poaching arrest in southwestern Utah earlier this month.

Hurricane resident Mathew Steven Spendlove is accused of poaching seven buck deer in Washington County.

Division of Wildlife Resources officers began investigating in November 2008 when a confidential informant called the hotline to report a deer that had been killed outside of hunting season. Their work on the case led them to Spendlove and eventually a warrant to search his home.

Inside the home, officers found seven sets of deer antlers and photos on a cell phone, a camera and a computer that provided enough evidence for prosecutors to charge Spendlove with the crimes.

A trial date has been set for Sept. 10. If Spendlove is found guilty, he could spend the next five years in jail, pay $13,000 in fines and pay $2,800 in restitution.
 
Wow.

Aside from the whole "poaching is immoral" angle, the object lesson here is not to post your poached kills on intarwebz sites to brag about. And don't keep trophies.

Shoot, eat, shovel, shut up.

The state would have had no evidence if their showpiece evidence is largely trophy related.
 
Shoot, eat, shovel, shut up.
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That list describes the appropriate behavior for a slew of different activities...

I'm sure the creation dates on those digital photos were also more than a little damning.
 
+1 simmonkenton. I have no use for a poacher and have witnessed, first hand, the distruction of quality game animals(especially deer) just for certain body parts. The rest left for the buzzards:barf:.
 
Yes! Round up those poachers! Poaching doesn't seem to be much of a problem in my area that I'm aware of, but it sure was in California. The area I deer hunted just about had the bears cleaned out by Asian poachers who were taking only the gall bladders.

And it was worse with abalone. We found a rare dive spot with easy accessibility where we could easily pull limits. We went back to the same spot for the next season opener and it was cleaned out. We were shocked, but later learned they had busted a group who was poaching for the black market, and they had focused on that area. The damage they did was irreparable - it will be centuries before that population returns to what it was, if ever. The divers who will drag into that location, dive and come up empty handed because of these thieves will be numerous.

Poaching is not a victimless crime; it robs all of us.
 
I'm sure the creation dates on those digital photos were also more than a little damning.
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I am one of those morons who always has the date wrong on thier photos. About 90% of mine were taken 01/01/2001.....:o
 
Stupid as stupid does.

These as the same #%&holes the steal from old women. These spineless slugs not worth the time of day. If starving, shooting a deer is againist the law, but a argueable case in anyones eyes. But this was pure ego and greed and like anything else it just take a few @!ckers like them to ruin it for the rest of us. If you police youself, then we don't need anyone else to police us. Right?
 
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I couldn't hardly hold it against somebody if they had to do it to feed the kids but, this is not the case here, I say throw the book at em'.
 
Good work cops!
Put the poaching pos in jail where he belongs.
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My sentiments exactly. In most of OK a hunter seldom sees a nice buck deer because the road spotlighters kill them before hunting season starts. Last year a guy trespassed on anothers land and killed a big buck out of season.

The genius took the head to a taxidermy run by a game warden. :D The wardens started watching the guy. The poacher subsequently got a big fine, confiscation of his new pickup truck and gun.
 
Unfortunately, being a western Rocky mountain state, Wyoming has become a long sought after goal with a lot of hunters. The Utah hunters in particular are infusing the west/southwest corner of the state each year. I really try not to generalize but I have yet to meet one who: A: has read the hunting manual thoroughly, or B: actually came here to hunt a trophy.
For the past 4 yrs I have watched them drive the State highways at sundown, shooting from the road, on anything that has antlers. Their camps are a mess,,etc. I truly wish they didn't come here. On the other hand, I have found that most of the California hunt camps in the same area tend to be well run. I've met a lot of them who were going home empty handed as they did not find an animal that met their "trophy" criteria. I realize that trophies tend to be subjective but I don't classify a two point shot from the road a "trophy".
elkman06
 
I know it wasn't done for the meat, but I would rather try having the Fish and Game contact me about road kill than to make us all look bad.
 
I know it wasn't done for the meat
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Either it was done for the meat, or they have no idea what a trophy is - those are little racks.

But stupid is what stupid does.

Does Utah have a bigger problem, are they better at catching them, or is it just a fluke they have been getting more press recently?
 
immoral?????

Poaching is not immoral. It is illegal. Wasting game is immoral.
Killing a deer either in season or out has nothing to do with morals.
Illegal means "against the law".
Immoral means "wrong".
For instance it is illegal to cheat on taxes.
It is immoral to cheat on your wife.
It is immoral and illegal to hit a pedestrian and not render aid.

I don't poach. But if a man or his family is hungry I would hold the light to help him.
Would that make me immoral?
 
No Bcarver, that makes you a person with morals. Thanks to hard work and the grace of God putting food on my families table does not require a .22 and a flashlight. But there was a time.
 
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