NC Elk Poacher Sentenced

[ZeroJunk]

I think there has been a thread about this case in the past, but I couldn't find it in a search. Anyhow, he killed one of the Elk that are being reintroduced in to the NC mountains several months ago. Sentence was 150 days in jail, forfeiture of his rifle, and a fine. I suspect some substantial legal fees as well.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pb...=2010307160033

[crghss]

Never knew elk lived in the Smokies. Huh,,,go figure.

[stargazer65]

From the article:
"In addition, the gun Cromer used to shoot the elk, a Browning .270-caliber rifle autographed by Richard Petty, was ordered by the court to be forfeited to the government and destroyed."

Why don't they auction it, and give the proceeds to the park or some other wildlife charity? Seems like a senseless waste.

[Crosshair]

Why don't they auction it, and give the proceeds to the park or some other wildlife charity? Seems like a senseless waste.

Yup, the government isn't exactly known for making the best use of resources. Sometimes they seem to go out of their way to waste resources.

[Doodlebugger45]

In Wyoming they can also seize your vehicle, depending on the severity of the crime. There was a well publicized case here maybe 10 years ago or so where a guy took his helicopter up on the mountain, used it to locate a band of elk, dropped his 13 year old son off nearby, and let him shoot an elk. Yep, they seized the helicopter, guns, and levied a hefty fine as well. They did sell the helicopter at auction. The poacher bought his own helicopter back!! I can't remember the price, but it was a LOT!

They usually only seize and auction vehicles for extreme cases, such as commercial poaching where several trophy animals are taken, but they sure can do it. Besides the seizure of vehicles and rifles, I have seen fines run into the thousands of dollars and jail sentences go to nearly a year, depending on the nature of the offense. The game wardens around here are incredibly persistent and really have a nose for where to go and who to check on too. I think they are probably the most thorough law enforcement officers we have in this state.

[ZeroJunk]

The reason this case seemed more curious than most is because this elk herd was brought in with much publicity to repopulate the elk herd that was supposed to have been here at some point in the past. And, since nobody threatened them they were a popular scenic attraction.

Breaking any game law is a bad thing, but this was beyond stupid.

[doofus47]

150 days in jail? They should make him go to Colorado or Wyoming, get a replacment elk and carry it back to NC on his back.

Just thinking outside the barred box...

[crghss]

Nice idea...

[Sgt.Saputo]

What a waste of a good gun. I like the idea of holding an auction and donating the money to a wildlife charity.

On the topic of the government wasting resources, I don't know the exact details but my uncle works at a prison and they were getting rid of their M1 carbines for M16s (I think that was what was happening anyways). Well they asked my uncle (formerly in the navy) to help them destroy all the old M1s. He told them they better find someone else because he wouldn't be part of something like that. Why not sell them to the public and use the profits for buying new guard gear?

Makes me sad to think stupid things like this happen all the time.

[BIGR]

Never knew elk lived in the Smokies. Huh,,,go figure.

The were re-introduced to the area years ago and have grown to a pretty good herd. If people would leave them alone they might just have a chance and maybe one day they might allow a few hunts like Kentucky does.

[Deerhunter]

I was out hunting with my buddy. We were dove hunting his uncle's farm. In PA you can be in the safety zones near barns and other buildings as long as oyu have the owners permission. Anyway we find out his tenant had called the game commision about people hunting to close to the buildings. At about the same time we saw a guy shoot at a rabbit out of season. So we wait for the game commision to show up with a few state police. They tlak to us and other people hunting the property. His uncle vouched for us about where we could hunt. We reported the guy. So this is where this ties in........the game commision finds him and turns out he had lost his liscense for shooting deer out of season a few years earlier. He shouldn't even have been hunting. We were asked to ID him. As we left a tow truck was coming in. They took both his guns, the van and the dog. We asked if we could have the dog but no dice. We tried though. PA boys don't play either.

We also had a guy shoot a deer that was in a pen at a small county (Montgomery) zoo. Guy cut the lock and went in with a cross bow. Drug it out but couldn't get far as it was a huge buck. Cut the head off after about 150 yards and then took off.

Last one about PA. My buddy (same guy as the first story) was out pushing deer for his cousin. He jumps a doe and his cousin shoots it. They get home and his cousin is skinning the deer hours later. Game Commision shows up. Turns out someone called and he was 10 yards inside a safety zone. They fined him and took the deer. My buddy got fined also. They said he was pushing deer too close to a building. So he goes back and he said it looked like a sceen from CSI. There were yellow flags where his cousin was standing, markers where the deer was and where it was shot. They had red flags on every 2nd or 3rd step my buddy took. They got him because he was too close to a shed by about 20 yards. He was more than far enough from the houses. They said it was an inhabital building, someone could have been living in there. It was a small storage shed for lawn equipment.

Sorry this ended up being long

[simonkenton]

"Safety zone."

Never heard of it.

I'm glad I am from Dixie and we don't have "Safety zones."

[Deerhunter]

@Simonkenton......yeah I hunt about 45 minutes outside of Philly. There are houses around some of the places we hunt. Need to be 150 yards from houses which also means even a small shed that is used to store lawn equipment. They changed it a couple years ago to let us closer to houses when archery hunting due to the deer population and people not wanting to let you hunt their property. Guns still need to be 150 yards away unless you have the owners permission or you are the owner then pretty much anything goes.

[DiscoRacing]

"Safety zone."

Similar to a "Dry County"

[simonkenton]

We used to have lots of elk up here in the NC mountains, until the White boys shot them all with their flintlock rifles.

They introduced 25 elk about 9 years ago. The herd is now up to about 100.

I am 80 miles from the elk herd preserve, but we had one hike down here 2 years ago, he was hanging out 2 miles from my house.

In a few days DNR caught him and hauled him back to the preserve.
That is one miracle elk, I can't believe the local hillbilly boys didn't shoot that animal, they will shoot anything, season or no season, license or no license.

[Deerhunter]

Here is what it says in the PA game book

Safety Zones: It is unlawful to hunt for, shoot at, trap, take, chase or disturb wildlife within 150 yards of any occupied residence, camp,
industrial or commercial building, farm house or farm building, or
school or playground without the permission of the occupants. It is
unlawful to shoot into a safety zone, even if you are outside of the
zone. Driving game, even without a firearm or bow, within a safety
zone without permission is unlawful. For comparison, think of a
safety zone as about one and a half football fields. Hunting on
hospital and institutional grounds, and in cemeteries, is also prohibited.
It is unlawful to discharge a firearm within 150 yards of a
Game Commission vehicle whose occupants are releasing pheasants.
The safety zone for archery hunters statewide, including those
using crossbows, is 50 yards. Archery hunters carrying
muzzleloaders during any muzzleloader season must abide by the
150-yard safety zone regulation. Around playgrounds, schools, nursery
schools or day-care centers, the safety zone remains 150 yards.

[Edward429451]

"In addition, the gun Cromer used to shoot the elk, a Browning .270-caliber rifle autographed by Richard Petty, was ordered by the court to be forfeited to the government and destroyed."

You guys are pretty naive to think this rifle will be destroyed. They just say that so the rifles (real) owner wont get mad when he hears that someone in the department got it. If you think it has been destroyed then you'll be a good little serf and not make waves about it.

[Art Eatman]

'Nuf wanderin' and grumpin'...