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This article appeared in the Billings Gazette last month, B.J Coy has been voted SCI's outfitter of the year several times.
This is an article that was written in the Billings Gazette last month.
B.J. Coy has been voted SCI's Outfitter of the year several times
CODY, Wyo. ? The owner of Yellow Creek Outfitters was convicted in February of hunting violations that included his failure to report the waste of a bighorn sheep and outfitting in unauthorized areas, among other charges.
Joe Coy was ordered to pay $2,820 in fines and to relinquish his 2012 outfitter license for violating five Wyoming Game and Fish regulations, including guiding out-of-state hunters.
He also received one year's probation and lost his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for three years.
Kathy Crofts, principal wildlife investigator with Game and Fish, said that while Coy was a licensed outfitter at the time, he was allowed to operate only on pre-approved private land and on lands managed by Bureau of Land Management.
Crofts said that in 2005, Coy's commercial operating permit for the Shoshone National Forest was not renewed because of a long history of repeated violations with the Forest Service.
Since he could not outfit on the Shoshone, Coy obtained a resident guide permit to take a Wisconsin hunter on a bighorn sheep archery hunt in August 2010.
He accepted $8,500 from the Wisconsin hunter, which is illegal under a resident guide permit.
"To obtain a resident guide permit, a person must confirm that they are not accepting any compensation, either directly or indirectly, for their services," Crofts said. "The Wisconsin hunter was clearly a paying client, not a family friend."
In September 2010, Coy outfitted two other sheep hunters on the Shoshone National Forest. During the hunt, Coy saw his client leaving edible portions of a harvested bighorn sheep in the field and failed to report it as required by law.
Both men were hunting with a governor's bighorn sheep license purchased at auction for $54,000 and $56,000.
"By law, hunters are required to retrieve all edible portions of big-game animals from the field after harvest," Crofts said. "In addition, if an outfitter or professional guide observes a game law violation, they have a legal responsibility to report it to Game and Fish."
When the sheep was checked at the Game and Fish office two days after harvest, Coy and the sheep hunter could produce only the head, a full body cape and a 12-pound bag of meat containing the backstraps from the animal.
"Coy knowingly allowed waste of the sheep, failed to report it to Game and Fish, and even paid for his hunter's fine," Crofts said. "There are many law-abiding hunters who would be grateful for the opportunity to hunt a bighorn sheep and be thrilled to take all the meat from a successful harvest, not just the trophy parts."
Coy also pleaded guilty for failure to report the waste of a mountain goat that one of his clients harvested in 2008.
The 18-month investigation was a joint effort of Game and Fish and the Shoshone National Forest.
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-a ... z1r5h3guj6
This is an article that was written in the Billings Gazette last month.
B.J. Coy has been voted SCI's Outfitter of the year several times
CODY, Wyo. ? The owner of Yellow Creek Outfitters was convicted in February of hunting violations that included his failure to report the waste of a bighorn sheep and outfitting in unauthorized areas, among other charges.
Joe Coy was ordered to pay $2,820 in fines and to relinquish his 2012 outfitter license for violating five Wyoming Game and Fish regulations, including guiding out-of-state hunters.
He also received one year's probation and lost his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for three years.
Kathy Crofts, principal wildlife investigator with Game and Fish, said that while Coy was a licensed outfitter at the time, he was allowed to operate only on pre-approved private land and on lands managed by Bureau of Land Management.
Crofts said that in 2005, Coy's commercial operating permit for the Shoshone National Forest was not renewed because of a long history of repeated violations with the Forest Service.
Since he could not outfit on the Shoshone, Coy obtained a resident guide permit to take a Wisconsin hunter on a bighorn sheep archery hunt in August 2010.
He accepted $8,500 from the Wisconsin hunter, which is illegal under a resident guide permit.
"To obtain a resident guide permit, a person must confirm that they are not accepting any compensation, either directly or indirectly, for their services," Crofts said. "The Wisconsin hunter was clearly a paying client, not a family friend."
In September 2010, Coy outfitted two other sheep hunters on the Shoshone National Forest. During the hunt, Coy saw his client leaving edible portions of a harvested bighorn sheep in the field and failed to report it as required by law.
Both men were hunting with a governor's bighorn sheep license purchased at auction for $54,000 and $56,000.
"By law, hunters are required to retrieve all edible portions of big-game animals from the field after harvest," Crofts said. "In addition, if an outfitter or professional guide observes a game law violation, they have a legal responsibility to report it to Game and Fish."
When the sheep was checked at the Game and Fish office two days after harvest, Coy and the sheep hunter could produce only the head, a full body cape and a 12-pound bag of meat containing the backstraps from the animal.
"Coy knowingly allowed waste of the sheep, failed to report it to Game and Fish, and even paid for his hunter's fine," Crofts said. "There are many law-abiding hunters who would be grateful for the opportunity to hunt a bighorn sheep and be thrilled to take all the meat from a successful harvest, not just the trophy parts."
Coy also pleaded guilty for failure to report the waste of a mountain goat that one of his clients harvested in 2008.
The 18-month investigation was a joint effort of Game and Fish and the Shoshone National Forest.
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-a ... z1r5h3guj6
