LAST EDITED ON Feb-06-15 AT 01:43PM (MST)[p]Courts absolutely have the ability to revoke hunting licenses/privileges. It is not just the Division and Wildlife Board. These possibilities are in addition to what the courts can do. Courts aren't bound by stupid time frames the way the Division is either.
Here is what chaps my hide about Utah's license suspension laws by the Division, and what I will continue to try and get changed: A person convicted of a felony for knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly poaching can only get a 7 year license suspension. Class A misdemeanor (the Hyde Park case) is 5 years max. If the animal meets the definition of "trophy animal" under statute then the hearing officer has the ability to double the penalty. This is the max for any one single criminal episode, not for each count you are convicted. So the Hyde Park case, if left up to the Division to suspend privileges, is 10 years suspension max...since that buck meets the definition of "trophy animal."
So let's pretend for a moment that I head down to the San Juan and find a bachelor herd of 4 trophy bulls all scoring 375 or better on their winter grounds in a clearing. I don't possess any big game hunting license, as all the hunts are closed. I decide I'm a little bored, and I decide I'm going to just kill them all for kicks and giggles. The longest the Division can suspend my hunting privileges in Utah is 14 years. That is a complete and total joke.