Utah Code ? 23-20-3 says, in part, that:
(1) Except as provided in this title or a rule, proclamation, or order of the Wildlife Board, a person may not:
(a) take protected wildlife or its parts;
(b) collect, import, possess, transport, propagate, store, donate, transfer, or export protected wildlife or its parts;
(c) take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, donate, or trade protected wildlife or its parts without having previously procured the necessary licenses, permits, tags, stamps, certificates of registration, authorizations, and receipts required in this title or a rule, proclamation, or order of the Wildlife Board;
(d) take protected wildlife with any weapon, ammunition, implement, tool, device, or any part of any of these not specifically authorized in this title or a rule, proclamation, or order of the Wildlife Board;
This statute is basically a catch all, and allows for prosecution even when a Utah hunter did not intentionally break the law. An individual can even be prosecuted under this section if they made an honest mistake as to their location (thinking they were on a different tract of land).
The statute is allowed to catch 'honest mistakes' because of paragraph (3)(b). The paragraph says: "does so with criminal negligence as defined in Subsection 76-2-103(4). ? 76-2-103(4) says:
"With criminal negligence or is criminally negligent with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise in all the circumstances as viewed from the actor's standpoint."
A hunting example of criminal negligence would be if a hunter, who has a Nevada hunting license, thought he was in Nevada when he shot an animal, and was actually in Utah. Even though the hunter did not intend to take an animal illegally (poach), and had a license, he could be prosecuted under ? 23-20-3.
Hunters, be careful. Know your location before you pull the trigger. Because, even though you have a license, and do not have the intent to take an animal unlawfully, ie. "I wasn't poaching", you could still be prosecuted for an honest mistake, or in the eyes of Utah law, criminal negligence.
That is, in essence, what the law states. Now add in the DWR gave them permission either directly or indirectly to hunt in the unit they were hunting in. Isn't really any dispute to any of this. Someone made a mistake, honest or not, they can't prove criminal negligence against the hunter. Things happen and employees make mistakes.
Therefore, I repeat what I said earlier if this was a hunter who drew the sheep tag and was a DIY hunter who made a mistake ya'll would be calling for the DWR's head rather than the hunter. BUT because it was an auction tag and WLH was hired then the rich hunter should be lynched at sunrise. Call it jealousy, envy, or whatever. I realize it is tough to admit, but it is what it is.
