Glen Berry Game Calls

T

tradman

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Don't support poachers


IDAHO FISH AND GAME
UPPER SNAKE REGION NEWS RELEASE
Idaho Falls, ID

Date: December 2, 2005
Contact: Gregg Losinski
(208) 525-7290



filmed on location in idaho!


IDAHO FALLS - Filming the shooting of a big 6 x 6 bull elk in Idaho is something that should have been the perfect film subject for Glen Berry, owner of Big Bull Productions, a company that specializes in the producing videos of big game hunts all around the globe. The problem was that Berry was hunting the bull with a Montana tag! While the video that witnesses reported seeing being shot was never recovered, their precise GPS (Global Positioning System) marking of the kill site and nearly instantaneous reporting of the incident via cell phone to IDFG Senior Conservation Officer Lew Huddleston, helped earn Berry a film credit for poaching.

On September 19, 2005, witnesses observed Berry kill the big 6 x 6 bull elk approximately ? a mile inside Idaho. The site was astride the Idaho side of the Continental Divide, so little doubt could have existed as to what state the party was hunting. Additional confirmation regarding Berry's knowledge of the exact location of the kill site was confirmed by the fact that he purchased an Idaho elk tag after the bull had been shot!

The witnesses observed the kill site and recorded its location with a GPS and immediately reported the information to Officer Huddleston. This information and the ensuing investigation resulted in a 27 hour-long work day for Huddleston, something that is not all that uncommon for an Idaho Conservation Officer during the fall hunting season!

Whereas some film stars reap millions for their productions, Berry ended up costing him! He pled guilty to the four charges; Possession of an unlawfully taken big game animal, Hunting without an Idaho elk permit, Failure to validate his elk tag, and Violating the U.S. Forest Service Travel Plan. The penalties were the maximum for the possession, $1,000 plus court costs, $750 civil penalty, 180 days in jail and 3 years license revocation. The other three violations resulted in $9,000 in fines, plus court costs! Because Idaho is a member of the Wildlife Violator Compact, Berry will also not be able to hunt as part of his filming during the next three years in any of the 20 other member states!

Because his son Chad Berry was part of this big game shooting gone bad, he is scheduled for trial on possession of unlawfully taken animal in Clark County in January.
 
Bad deal. You gotta go by the laws, even when big $$ is trying to sway you the other way!
 
I don't believe him for a min. happens to often for this dude.

From bowsit.com



I am Glen Berry and I would like to make this statement so all will know the truth. Until you have dealt with Fish and Wildlife you have no idea what I've been through. I would have the same opinion as most of you of a violator before this happened.

The events start on Sept. 16, 2005. My son, a good friend of mine, and myself arrive in unit 59 of Idaho and set up camp at Middle Fork Bench. We plan on bowhunting elk in Montana by accessing Montana through Mill Fork Canyon of Middle Creek Road, which is located in Idaho. The end of Middle Creek Road stops less than 1/2 mile from the Montana border. It is easier to access this area through Idaho, than it is through Montana. We were hunting in Montana for 2 1/2 days by accessing exactly the same way and were getting into several bulls. On the afternoon of Sept. 18 we had split up and Chad went with my friend. I walked up into a patch of timber. Suprisingly enough I spooked a herd of elk, with a 6x6 bull trailing a few cows. The bull stopped on the ridge, and gave me enough time for a shot. The herd ran over top into Idaho. I was unable to find my arrow and was unsure if I hit the bull. I met back up with Chad and my friend, and it was almost dark. The elk we had been hunting had moved further east into Montana. We decided that we were going to move camp the next day to hunt a different area, but decided we should make one more attempt to assure the bull I shot at hadn't been hit. On the morning of Sept. 19 we slept in until 7:00 a.m. and drove up Middle Creek Road. We parked the vehicle in the same place we had the previous 3 days. I decided to access Montana by walking up a drainage in Mill Fork Canyon to the east, since I wanted to return to the area I had shot at the bull in Montana the afternoon before, and this was the best way. We began walking up the drainage, when Chad said he was going to go to the bathroom and would catch up. My friend and myself continued up the drainage and heard a bull on the border. When I reached the very top of the ridge, a 6x6 bull stuck his head up. Thinking it was the same bull I had shot the previous afternoon, I shot the bull and the hit was in the neck. The bull ran down the 60 degree slope into Idaho. I recovered the bull approximately 400 yards into Idaho. I had shot the bull, and it appeared to have cut the bulls wind pipe. I was confused what to do, because although I had shot the bull in Montana, it had died in Idaho. I knew what the right thing to do was, and began to put my Montana tag on the bull, when my friend suggested I go buy an Idaho tag, because it wasn't worth taking a chance. Since we were packing the bull out through Idaho, and going to transport the bull out on the only dirt road, which was in Idaho, if by some chance we were stopped by a game warden and the bull has a Montana tag on it, and the game warden requests to go to where the bull died, it would be in Idaho, and then we would have to prove that the bull was shot in Montana. Against my better judgement, I decided to buy an Idaho tag, which was over-the-counter. When we returned with the tag, I realized that something was up, when a sheriff and the game warden had both went by our camp. Realizing that I had not tagged the bull immediately I was in big trouble. I was questioned and arrested. I signed a consent to search affadavit for the camera bag, my truck, and my trailor. They found no video tapes of the event because there were no video tapes. I plead guilty to all four charges although I hadn't shot the bull in Idaho. I knew it was the right thing to do because I hadn't put my tag on it immediately and took possession of the bull. To me it really doesn't make a difference if you have 2 or 3 or 4 violations, if you have one violation you are a violator. So, I decided against fighting the hunting without a tag charge and plead guilty to all four. I know that the witness said he saw me shoot the bull in Idaho. To let you know he changed that statement under oath at my review stating that he first saw us when we were at the bull, where it had died. For five to ten minutes he watched us. When we had left, he went down to the bull with another friend and saw it was untagged. This is when they called fish and game because they believed it had been illegally taken. The witnesses took dna samples and gps coordinates of where the bull was found dead. The game warden never went to examine the bull or the site, or tried to figure out what really happened. My son was also charged with unlawful possession. He was not hunting, he did not have a weapon in camp, and was only there to help. He never touched or took possession of this animal, until the game warden requested Chad and my friend to retrieve the bull so it would be salvaged. He made no decisions on the taking of this bull verbally or physically. I had an Idaho hunting license. If I wanted to hunt the Beaverhead zone, I would of simply bought a $370.00 tag.

I have been bowhunting for 33 years and have never had a game violation. I have made it a point never to take the easy route. I made a mistake, and paid my price. I spent 30 days in jail, and paid just over $3,000 in fines. I also received 3 years loss of hunting rights in 23 states and am currently on probation. I was given such a stiff penalty not because of what I did, but who I am. Assumptions were made and they felt I was trying to profit off the state of Idaho, by intentionally hunting and attempting to film a hunt illegally, which is not the truth. I do not hunt exclusively in front of a video camera. I am a family man, who enjoys hunting with my daughter, my son, and my friends, the same way I did 30 years ago. I have never considered myself a celebrity. The people I deal with at sport shows or seminars have always looked up to me because I have always came across as a down-to-earth, average guy, who likes to hunt. Maybe some people make millions off hunting videos and outdoor t.v. shows, but I have never made very much money from t.v. or videos. I have built a business around my game call company. People know my morals and my character. I have been doing this for 23 years. I know what happened out there and I am not going to hang my head with shame. I know I have made a mistake, but I feel people should be entitled to atleast one mistake in their life. This is the first time I have ever hunted near a state line, and not had tags for both states. To the organizations I belong to and the individuals who support me, I would like them to take in consideration what I have contributed to the sport of archery and bowhunting over the past 23 years. I ask them to judge my character for who I am, not one unfortunate incident.

Glen Berry
 
I believe him!

First off what he did was wrong and he admits it. He isn't fighting it in court or anything. If you have ever hunted this part of Idaho the boundry isn't marked with a fence. It isn't straight up and down obvious. You can be on a open sagebrush hillside and not know where the boundry is. This still is the responsibility of the hunter.

While hunting we are all faced with ethics questions. Is is it past or before legal light?, is this road closed to wheelers i'm just using it retrieve my animal?, you see the bull that your son or daughter hit so you finish it off before you lose it all together, and the list goes on.

He made a mistake and is paying the price and will for many years. His record has been clean up to this date and that says a lot especially in the hunting industry.

Again I agree that what he did was wrong and we can use it as a lesson for us to remember. Just be careful to throw stones unless you have always made every ethics question correct. He is truely and good guy who made a mistake.
 
Bozeman,

Very well said and I agree 100%. We sometimes may make unwise decisions under pressure on items that we have not faced before.

Glen and his family have been stand up people from the start and continue to be at the present time from what I have read on Bowsite.com.

I have no doubt that he will continue to be a great contibutor to the future of hunting, even after this incident.

A sad and humbling experience in my eye's for a good man.
 
he admits that he intentionally broke the law. if he would have tagged it immediately, like the law says, even if it was in the wrong state, he might have some credibility. he wanted to buy an idaho tag so he could still hunt in montana. if he was gonna hunt the state line, he should've just bought two tags to start with. like he says, judge him for what he is. he is a convicted and admitted poacher.
 
I hunt the Mont.Idaho line and don't buy an Idaho tag. He hadn't intended to hunt Idaho. The dilema came when the bull died in Idaho. He got nervous and made the wrong decision. Put yourself in his shoes having shot a bull on the utah/wyoming border and then have all the thoughts of what should I do run through your mind. I think poacher is a bit harsh. The bull was shot in Montana. A poacher wouldn't of went and even got an Idaho tag, he'd of taken it out at night.
 
There is a thread over on this site withover 240+ threads to it and the F&G officer even repsonded to it. Down on the bottom of the thread. Glen Berry even responded to the officer and called him by name.
Check it out and then see where you stand. Here is the link:
http://www.bowsite.com/BOWSITE/TF/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=317967&messages=246&forum=5


fca2e9e9.jpg
 
wow,

That Bowsite thread is interesting. One thing I haven't figured out yet is the why the animal was shot in the morning and not gutted before nightfall?

Beanman
 
Yeah, obviously Berry wasn't hunting for the meat. To let an elk sit all day long in September, without gutting it should have also got him charged with waste of an animal.
 
Glen,
I will continue to buy your game calls. You did make a mistake and paid dearly for it. As far as I am concerned it is over and done with. See you at the sportsman show.
 
yeah, it was getting nasty. It appeared Glen was lying and some heated words were exchanged between his supporters and those calling for his head. There is a new post saying Sportsman's warehouse is going to discontinue carrying his products.
 
Hope this isn't against the rules here
here is a copy from the ID game cop:

Here's the post by Officer Lew Huddleston:

This is the first time I have ever been on this site, and don't know anybody posting on this site except one person, Glen Berry. I am the officer that Mr. Berry refers to in his "story". I had originally told Mr. Berry that I had no interest in announcing on the internet what he had done, however, since he has gone public with a story I guess there should be no problem with me setting the story straight.

The story that Mr. Berry posted above is far from the truth. I am not going to go into the entire story on this site. If anybody is bent on wanting to know the true story I can be reached at the Idaho Fish and Game Region 6 office. Just ask for the officer that worked on the Glen Berry investigation.

I will tell you some of the facts. I initially contacted Glen about 4:00 in the afternoon the day he shot the bull. The bull had been shot between 10:00 and 10:30 that morning. Glen had bought the 2nd elk tag at about 2:00 that afternoon. Glen said they had done some scouting that morning but not really any hunting.

About 8:00 to 8:30 that evening I, along with a Clark County Deputy contacted Glen, Chad and Glen's friend. (I wont' be the one that mentions his name)The three people were riding atv's coming down from the Continental Divide. They had been hunting in Montana. This is an area that has been closed to off-road vehicle use for 10 years.

From the very beginning Glen Berry denied there even being a dead elk in Idaho. After denying the dead elk I interviewed Glen's friend. He told me that Glen DID NOT wound a bull in Montana the previous day. The friend told me Glen DID kill an elk in Idaho that morning. The friend told me there was "confussion" as to whether they were in Idaho or Montana, BEFORE the elk was shot. Just to let you know there is a 4 strand barbed wire fence along the state border. It's the Continental Divide. It is very easy to tell what state your in. In fact Mr. Berry contacted some people in a camp the night before and explained to them just where the Montant border is and tried to talk them into hunting lower in the valley.

After the friend told me what I believe was the true story I told Mr. Berry I was going to give him one more chance to be straight with me. I even told him if an accident happened he needed to be straight with me. Glen continued to deny there being a dead elk on the hill. When I had his friend repeat what he told me to Glen, Glen told me it wasn't true and that his friend didn't know what he was talking about. In fact I even ask Mr. Berry what was going to happen to the elk (was he going to allow it to waste)Berry's response to me was "What elk".

I told Chad and the friend that it was not their responsibility but if the elk stayed on the hill until the next mornig I was going to charge Glen with waste. I told them I would not charge them with bringing the elk down, but I was going to seize the elk meat and antlers. They brought the elk out that night between midnight and four am. I can tell you they had to go back to camp to get pack boards and knives so there was no intentions of bringing out the elk that night, until I contacted them.

The witness stated they saw Glen and Chad at the elk with the video camera. The only reason the witnesses were interested in the elk was they recognized Chad and knew they were supposed to be hunting Montana. They never did see the friend at the site. After Berry's left, the witness went down and found an ungutted elk covered with pine boughs. They took GPS cooridinates, DNA sample and pictures. They followed the blood trail and found where the elk had been shot. The blood trail was about 80 yards. The kill site was almost one half mile inside Idaho.

Again for Berry to say I didn't want to go to the kill site and look at what happend is not true. Berry didn't even admit an elk being dead until he was in jail. I don't have any motives except for people to know the truth. I am not an bowhunter, however, I have friends that try to talk me into taking it up.

I had no clue who Glen Berry was until this incident took place.

I will let the witness know about Berry posting on this site in case he wants to post anything.

Idaho Officer

Quite a bit of difference from Berry's account of things.
 
I think the thing that gets me the most about this guy is I know of two other things like this he did and got out of it. His storys are crap. Makes me mad I wont go into the other things that happened in Oregon because it isnt public knowledge like this is But I am so glad he finnaly got whats comming to him.
 
Lets say you shoot an elk in the neck. How far would an elk go? That was in his post... I could see it go that far. It seams that most do not know all the facts.

I like Glen. He made a mistake and not tag it with his Montana tag. He paid the consequence. Here is a question:

How many times have YOU left work early? That is stealing.
We have all done something unethical in our lives. Give it go!!!
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-08-05 AT 10:58PM (MST)[p]thehunt, sadly enough, its guys like him that are in the "spot light" and setting an example. I can tell you from what I read from the F&G officer that Berry is quite a piece of work. I think that when you "make a mistake" as you put it, you own up to it and not lie about it.. That to me shows intent and with that kind of mantality, I certainly wouldnt put it past him to have done this before. I mean seriously, he lied the entire time about this even when his own friend told the truth. It wasnt until he was in jail that he finally confessed...
buck1.gif


Later, Brandon
 
and to answer your question...

of course no one is perfect. But a man admits when he makes a mistake... Denial shows that he didnt make a mistake.. He just got caught.

buck1.gif


Later, Brandon
 
Guys like Glen Berry give all the politically correct organizations reason to not like us hunters. For those above that believe Glens account because they like his stories and videos should look at the facts. The guy lied and got caught. It was no mistake. Lying is a choice and he made the wrong one. If his story was true he would have tagged that animal with the correct tag, the one for Montana. If this is the first time he has gotten caught imagine how many times he has done this kind of thing in the past. Sorry, he wouldn't be allowed at my hunting camp. We like people with ethics and morals. He is obviously lacking both.
 
A guy like Berry has a responsibilty to all of us to be especially careful to protect our name. The things he does and shows to the public can have a tremendous impact on the future of our sport.

Someone in Berry's position can't make these type of mistakes. When your a representative to all of us, ethics have got to be your #1 objective.

I think we need to make a point to let the public know WE DO NOT CONDONE THAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR.

I hear over and over that "OH he just made a mistake, it could have happened to any of us". Berry is not just any of us, he has the ability to impact millions of opinions.
 

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