Costly Mistake

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HUNTER HIT WITH COSTLY PENALTIES AFTER MISHAP
December 22, 2016 at 8:00 am | By SAM WILSON Daily Inter Lake

Jeff Fleming wishes he could take back the most expensive three seconds of his life.

On Oct. 28, the Kalispell hunter was convicted by Thompson Falls Justice of the Peace Donald M. Strine of illegally killing two bighorn sheep during a hunting trip in the Knowles Creek area. He says that it was an honest mistake, but one that still wound up costing him more than $32,000 in fines after he self-reported the incident.

?Nobody draws a sheep tag you waited 30 years for and ends up killing three animals intentionally,? Fleming said in an interview Monday.

On Oct. 28, Fleming was tracking a herd of bighorn sheep at Knowles Creek with his friend and a fellow Kalispell hunter, Brad Borden, when he sighted on a trophy ram.

?I took a shot at my ram, but as soon as I shot that ram, I didn't know it at the time, it fell into a depression where I couldn't see it,? Fleming said. He reloaded, peered back through his scope and saw what appeared to be the same animal. ?I'm sure he's wounded, so I shoot him again. When I walked up the hill, I can't tell you how shocked I was to see three bighorn sheep lying there.?

The second bullet had passed through the second ram and struck an ewe standing in the brush behind it, killing it with a shot to the throat.

Borden then called the game warden, who upon investigating the scene, told the two men that the evidence appeared to corroborate their story. Fleming said the warden even helped the hunters pack out the meat, allowing him to keep the first ram.

?He told me, ?I gotta charge you for taking a ram, but I can't charge you for taking an ewe??, Fleming recalled. ?I just thought I was going to pay a fine. I never thought I'd lose my license.?

Fleming pleaded guilty to the offenses. As restitution to the state, he must pay $30,000 for the second ram and $2,000 for the ewe, in addition to a $735 fine for hunting over the limit. He also lost his hunting, trapping and fishing privileges for 30 months.

Judge Strine said in an interview with the Daily Inter Lake that although the game warden corroborated Fleming?s account of the sheep killings, the law gives him no leeway on restitution for those convicted of illegally harvesting animals.

?The law says ?shall,? not ?may,? so that pretty much takes the discretion away from the judge,? Strine said. But he added that he could have suspended Fleming?s sportsman privileges for considerably longer than he did.

Strine also said he allowed Fleming to make the payments in installments, citing the accidental nature of the crime.

RELYING ON information from a story in the Sanders County Ledger, a Daily Inter Lake news brief in its Monday ?Regional Roundup? referred to Fleming as ?poacher,? which he said compounded his poor luck by tarnishing his reputation in his home town.

?Poaching? is not legally defined under Montana law, and is instead a more generalized term. Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden Capt. Lee Anderson said he typically reserves the word for those who illegally kill wildlife with intent.

?I generally only use the term for folks that do it purposefully and knowingly,? Anderson said. ?... We try to work with guys as much as we can, and then it's up to the judge to decide what kind of penalty he wants to levy.?

Ultimately, Strine said the responsibility rests with Fleming, regardless of whether the circumstances were unfortunate.

?If you're gonna go out in the woods with a rifle, you better know the law and what you're going to shoot at, and what you're not going to shoot at,? Strine said.

While Fleming disagreed with the charges, he said he appreciated the warden?s credulity after Borden called in the incident. Still, he feels that a judge should have some leeway when sentencing someone who had no intention to break the law.

?As a hunter, there should be an incentive for every hunter to do the right thing and the honest thing, which is to report yourself,? he said. ?They shouldn't throw the book at an honest hunter. I've never had a hunting violation in my life and I've never had a criminal history.?



TONY MANDILE
48e63dfa482a34a9.jpg

How To Hunt Coues Deer
 
Too bad for the sheep and the hunter.

Makes you second guess doing the right thing, turning yourself in for an accident, even if there was possibly some carelessness involved.
It took some courage to turn himself in and make things right. I don't think Jeff would be considered a poacher in anyway.
 
That's a bummer. He did the right thing coming forward about the mistake and is really paying for it. I understand the restitution, as sheep are very valuable, but honest mistakes do happen sometimes.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
LIKE MonsterMuleys.com
on Facebook!
 
The same thing happened to me back in the 70's with geese. I fired 1 shot and killed 6 and the limit was 4. Even the warden had to admit that was some fine shooting.

I pled guilty but the judge explained that every time I pull the trigger I was responsible for the results. $550 fine, a lot of money back then.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-22-16 AT 09:48AM (MST)[p]I assume the intent of the severe penalty was to send a message. Unfortunately, that message could be received by some as "keep your mouth shut" if you ever mess up in this manner.
 
I guess you better have a really good spotter with you ! Seems a little much for a guy that called it in and took responsibility for his actions . This story may push others to not be so honest.
 
I think the guy got hosed. At least he had the guts to be a man and take accountability. Even packed the meat out. I think they could have done about 2/3 or more less on restitution. Maybe Utah could take a lesson and hand out some punishment for the nebo ordeal. I think the state of montana got this one all wrong. I take my hat off to the hunter at least he had the balls to come forward and accept responsibility. That sucks that the sheep were killed as well.
 
>I think the guy got hosed.
>At least he had the
>guts to be a man
>and take accountability. Even packed
>the meat out. I think
>they could have done about
>2/3 or more less on
>restitution. Maybe Utah could take
>a lesson and hand out
>some punishment for the nebo
>ordeal. I think the state
>of montana got this one
>all wrong. I take my
>hat off to the hunter
>at least he had the
>balls to come forward and
>accept responsibility. That sucks that
>the sheep were killed as
>well.

+1.....maybe Obama will pardon him.
 
$30K in restitution. Ouch! That is a kick in the pants, many times over. Costly mistake, indeed.

One of the reason mandatory minimums are generally viewed unfavorably. I think most reasonable people would have been okay with this guy getting his fines and a slap on the wrist, considering he made a mistake, it was not willful disregard for the law, and he turned himself in to the authorities. I think the mandatory minimums should apply to only those that willfully disregard the law in these cases. But true intent can be very hard to decipher, let alone prove.
 
I agree that we as hunters are responsible for our actions but that seems fairly harsh. There should be some middle ground between dropping the hammer on a guy for an honest mistake and imposing no consequences whatsoever. This incident and the Nebo ram incident hightlight the two extremes.

-Hawkeye-
 
Harsh penalty for an honest mistake.It's incidences like this that discourage hunters from reporting an honest mistake.
 
I think this is bull crap. He never tried to hide anything and admitted his mistakes, yet he gets a harder punishment than nearly every guy that truly poaches on purpose. No wonder why so many people refuse to come forward and admit their mistake.

Not saying he shouldn't be punished but some sort of common sense needs to occur.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
You know why people are starting to question game laws??? This is one of many reasons.

You accidentally shoot another hunter and you go home. You accidentally shoot an animal, the wrong species, over a limit, under sized, wrong area, and they do their best to screw a family for years. Justice should be blind but not stupid.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-22-16 AT 07:00PM (MST)[p]...gonna have to sell alot of wooden bears to pay that off...

.....
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-22-16 AT 06:40PM (MST)[p]>$30K in restitution. Ouch! That is
>a kick in the pants,
>many times over. Costly mistake,
>indeed.
>
>One of the reason mandatory minimums
>are generally viewed unfavorably. I
>think most reasonable people would
>have been okay with this
>guy getting his fines and
>a slap on the wrist,
>considering he made a mistake,
>it was not willful disregard
>for the law, and he
>turned himself in to the
>authorities. I think the mandatory
>minimums should apply to only
>those that willfully disregard the
>law in these cases. But
>true intent can be very
>hard to decipher, let alone
>prove.

If the guy had been smart and/or hired an attorney to look at the law he could have gotten out of the $30,000 restitution fee because the Statute specifically says that those fees apply to a violation where the person purposely or knowingly killed, etc. and that wasn't the case in this instance! Below is the Statute he was charged with:
87-6-907. Restitution for illegal killing, possession, or waste of trophy wildlife. In addition to other penalties provided by law, a person convicted or forfeiting bond or bail on a charge of purposely or knowingly illegally killing, taking, possessing, or wasting a trophy animal listed in this section shall reimburse the state for each trophy animal according to the following schedule:
(1) mountain sheep with at least one horn equal to or greater than a three-fourth curl as defined by commission regulation, $30,000;
(2) elk with at least six points on one antler, as defined by commission regulation, or any grizzly bear, $8,000;
(3) moose having antlers with a total spread of at least 30 inches, as defined by commission regulation, or any mountain goat, $6,000;
(4) antlered deer with at least four points on one antler as defined by commission regulation, $8,000;
(5) antelope with at least one horn greater than 14 inches in length as defined by commission regulation, $2,000.
 
It was about 50 years ago when I took Hunter Safety, I clearly recall the example of shooting a second animal after not knowing you dropped the 1st animal shot. In class, the story's punch line was a pile of dead deer on the far side of a fence they jumped one after another. The responsibility is on the hunter to know the result of the 1st shot, before shooting again. No exceptions.

Heavy consequences for an honest hunter, but he is @ fault. I'd like to see that same judge preside over all the poaching, trespassing, access-denying, OHV violating cases posted here, that have resulted in slap-on-the-wrist penalties.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-22-16 AT 06:49PM (MST)[p]The majority of people I know who have turned themselves in on mistakes regret it.

I know someone who shot two elk on a late limited entry hunt rifle hunt. Similar situation. Shot 1 and it disappeared. Saw another elk limping and shot again. Turns out the 2nd elk was limping from an arrow. It was a 1-year investigation before they let him off. Game warden saw the arrow, and it all made sense, but he literally had to pull out the crime scene tape and make life difficult. The animal that was 1st shot went to waste as it wasn't cared for through the fiasco.

There should be fine caps on those who self-report. Take care of the animal, give it to someone else, throw the antlers away, maybe give a modest fine, and move on. Its unlikely someone who is intentionally doing wrong will report anything.
 
Sad story, the hunter did the right thing! Seems to me the judge could have gone easier on him.

7 Mag
 
If an Accident happens again with the same Guy!

What do you Think the Chances of Him Turning Himself in again are?











[font color="blue"]She put a Big F.U. in My Future,Ya She's got a
way with Words[/font]
 
> If an Accident happens again
>with the same Guy!
>
>What do you Think the Chances
>of Him Turning Himself in
>again are?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>[font color="blue"]She put a Big F.U.
>in My Future,Ya She's got
>a
>way with Words[/font]
>
>
I think he is going to start hunting with a fork !!!!!
 
Even with my law enforcement background, I have to agree with the majority on this thread. The judge should have given more consideration to the circumstances and cut this hunter a far lessor sentence.
Just due to the fact the game warden supported the hunter's statement should have had more merit with the judge indicating this was a honest mistake on the part of the hunter and he came forward and reported the incident.
This sentence will only re-inforce the idea if you make a mistake, do not come forward and report it.

RELH
 
how much different would the penalty be had he not turned him self in,walking away seems to look like the best value from here.honesty did not seem to help, but it is cheaper than a desert sheep hunt in mexico
 
Most on this post don't get that the judge had no choice under the guilty plea as Topgun pointed out.

His second biggest mistake was not getting a lawyer to find out what the consequences would be.
 
Don't fool yourself the judge had no choice. Even though the law said "you shall" and not "You may" the judge could have given a lessor sentence. If he did that the defendant will not file a complaint for the judge using his descretion nor do I think the warden would protest either.

RELH
 
>Don't fool yourself the judge had
>no choice. Even though the
>law said "you shall" and
>not "You may" the judge
>could have given a lessor
>sentence. If he did that
>the defendant will not file
>a complaint for the judge
>using his descretion nor do
>I think the warden would
>protest either.

> RELH


"Judge Strine said in an interview with the Daily Inter Lake that although the game warden corroborated Fleming?s account of the sheep killings, the law gives him no leeway on restitution for those convicted of illegally harvesting animals.

?The law says ?shall,? not ?may,? so that pretty much takes the discretion away from the judge,? Strine said. But he added that he could have suspended Fleming?s sportsman privileges for considerably longer than he did.

Strine also said he allowed Fleming to make the payments in installments, citing the accidental nature of the crime."


How do you figure RELH? If the law requires mandatory restitution, how can the judge reduce the amount? I'm no lawyer, but everything I read says he could not reduce it.
 
>How do you figure RELH? If
>the law requires mandatory restitution,
>how can the judge reduce
>the amount? I'm no lawyer,
>but everything I read says
>he could not reduce it.


Since RELH is involved in LE like he is I don't know why he's making the statement that the JP had discretion if the guy pled guilty to the actual statute that has the $30,000 mandatory restitution penalty. If they didn't think he killed the second ram on purpose, there should have been a different charge brought against the guy that didn't involve restitution. That obviously didn't happen and why the $30,000 was imposed for what he pled to. The guy should have looked closely at what he was pleading to or better yet in something that important hired a lawyer to advise him of what was going on and what would happen with a guilty plea. It appears he did neither and now is suffering the consequences that were all caused by his error in the first place. It was also brought out on another site that the guy was going to try to hide the evidence of the illegal sheep and his buddy convinced him to self report. That didn't help his cause either!
 
The case was decided in Thompson Falls by the Justice of the Peace. He should have brought the judge a backstrap and he might have walked. :)
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-16 AT 02:30PM (MST)[p]I was thinking the same thing about the Go Fund Me account. I'm sure this case has made many sportsmen and women think twice about doing the right thing.
 
Many years ago I shot two bucks with one shot. We contacted the warden who upon examination asked us if someone in our camp wanted to tag the second buck. Almost immediately the old geezers started lining up for the venison. Yep, those were the days when the sheriff depth would drive you home to your mom and dad's house when he caught you partying while being underage and drinking.
 
I read the law to state illegal killing = 30K fine. I think the judge interpreted it correctly, but I am no lawyer. This sucks for all involved, he definitely should be fined, but 30K seems excessive, perhaps 10K is the right number here.

I once saw a guy shoot 3 mule deer in one valley and he thought he shot at the same buck 3 different times. I was up on a perch watching him walk up the valley. He hit the first one (by far the biggest one) in the gut and it ran across in front of him, he walked up that way and small buck stepped out and he shot it in the gut and it ran up into the trees, he then walked that way and another small buck stepped out and he drilled it and drug it down to his quad and drove out with it. By the time I got down there he was already gone, I tracked the biggest buck and jumped him right before dark, but couldn't get a shot at him. It got dark and I was flying out the next morning, pretty sure there were 3 dead bucks on 1 tag and pretty sure the shooter had no idea he shot more than 1 deer. He just kept walking up to where he shot and there was another deer there. ##### happens that shouldn't and you should be held accountable, but there should be a difference between knowingly being a poacher to accidently shooting a 2nd animal. What I find kind of amazing is that he shot a ewe as well, that makes it sound more like nerves or shooting too fast to me, so I understand one could want to throw the book at him. That is a lot of dead sheep for 1 tag when you start shooting ewes.
 
What was the range of the shoot ? Long range shooters that's a extra risk to watch for. But I have seen cow elk hunters do it at 70 yards
 

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