An Idaho game warden’s day-long stakeout up the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River drainage led to jail and thousands of dollars of fines for four men in Custer County Monday.
Conservation officers had been following the group of seven from Idaho, Arizona and California for more than a week dressed like hunters and carrying rifles after getting tips. On Oct. 14, Regional Investigator Ryan Hilton watched the poachers leave their truck and hike up a mountain.
“I hid in the brush and ended up waiting nine hours for them to return,” Hilton said. “It was a long, cold day, but by being out there I was able to hear the shots.”
Wardens later confirmed the men illegally killed a six-point bull elk and also also took a video of them loading an illegal deer into their truck.
Jailed and fined were Juan Pasillas-Garcia, 44, of Hailey; Sergio Pasillas-Garcia, 39, and Bernardo Amaya, 38, both of Phoenix; and Martin Pasillas-Garcia, 45, of Torrence, Calif.
Jose Pasillas-Garcia, 30, of Hailey, had his jail sentence suspended. Two others got warnings.
The sentences were some of the most severe for wildlife crimes that the state of Idaho has seen. The officers issued a combined 49 citations and 21 warnings to seven individuals.
The illegal elk and four illegal mule deer bucks were recovered.
Custer County Magistrate Judge Charles L. Roos sentenced the five men to a total of 2,910 days of jail time. Four of them were ordered to serve 200 days; the fifth had his jail time suspended. The total fines amounted to $25,223. One life time revocation of hunting, fishing, and trapping was handed down with 65 years of hunting, fishing, and trapping split among the other four.
This is the second major poaching case cracked by Idaho Department of Fish and Game officers this year. Earlier they caught a poaching ring from Tasmania near Mountain Home that had been operating for years.
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Gee! Are they even legal citizens?
They're just some poor immigrants trying to live off the land! We need to legalize this now! Just some enterprising immigrants! (sarc.) zzzzzz!
Hey Xavier...
With a name like Xavier, you're making snide comments about their nationality and citizenship status based on their names? Amazing....
And you're using...
...your real name? I see! Duh! O.K. Manuel!
Yea, I agree. Maybe then can
Yea, I agree. Maybe then can just grow em and then the left would be all over it and want it legalized.
What does that even mean --------
try as I might , most of your posts look like something a 4th grader would write . The rest are just drivel .
Let us know...
...when you are able to read at a fourth grade level, junior!
Cold?
I'll bet that was a long cold day for Mr Hilton but good for him. His hunting trip was way more successful than the trashy perps he caught. Nice work Ryan.
death by sloth
So why do an elk and 4 deer have to die before the F&G can make an arrest or break this up?
Let's see your licenses and tags?
You don't have the right ones, now get out of here.
And THEN if they perps continue to hunt and bag something the punishment ought to be even more.
F&G needs to be preventing poaching more than trying to lay in disguise.
If the animal were a person, imagine the police saying, "we'll just wait here to watch the ganster actually kills his target- then we'll arrest him".
Poachers
I agree with the notion of asking for the licenses before the game were killed but then, again, if that food could go to the missions in the state, feed some hungry people, at least it wouldn't be a waste. It angers me no end to have people from other states coming here and poaching. I think the penalties should be astronomical for them. Good work Ryan. You are a credit to your organization!
As a longtime customer of
As a longtime customer of Custom Butcher in Boise, I have seen on many occasions Fish & Game bring in seized animals. Any useable animal is processed and then pick up by Fish and Game for delivery to the foodbank. So at least they're doing the best they can to use the meat for a worthy cause. In conversation with one of his employees, I was also informed that each year, several hunters who bring in their animals for processing never return to pick them up. That meat is donated, at a loss to Custom Butcher, as well.
IN 2012???
This must be an old story. There is no big game season remotely open right now.
Enjoy the Ride...there is no return ticket.
Your point?
Since when do poachers care about whether any big game season is open?
Did you read the story?
It clearly states the violations took place on October 14th and the sentencing took place Monday.
THEY'RE SLOW
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It's still clunky and the writing is horrible as usual
Aawww... It's A Family Thing
The family that poaches together sticks together.
c2
Poaching Up The Yankee Fork
sounds like some thing I saw in my wolf pack once.
At least that's what alpha female says...
and she saw it too...
Catch 22??
In this case it was necessary to wait for the crime to be committed before much could really be done. Assuming this was not private ground, the hunters would need to have a valid hunting license to carry in the feild. However, it does not say if all the hunters/or those accompaning the hunters had guns. If those with guns had a valid hunting license they could just say they were out target shooting or hunting something in season. The Out-of-staters may have gotten a bigger wrist slap since they probablly didn't have an out of state license to hunt in Idaho, but for the most part everyone would have skated free without any reason to deter from futher poaching in the future.
deterence
Hmmm.
We met the F&G guys this morning. They are probably still in the area....
And they told us the rules for the day and the possible consequences....
Good enough for me. Let's go back to town and have a cerveza.
OR
"Hmm. haven't seen a soul since we've been here and the odds are good we can get away with this deal. More cerveza...."
****
Even dummy decoy animals work well when F&G is trying to do a sting.
No dead trophies either.
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Solo F&G on a known poaching case against SEVEN armed houligans?
Even with multiple officers, confrontating the 7 beforehand is mild. After the fact, it is MUCH more risky if the perps know the fines and such. Isn't that one of the lessons of the Pouge/Elms incident?
Could they possibly invite some more risk and trouble into the situation?
Maybe the officers could have thrown some beer out there on the trail for the poachers to drink all day long- while he waited in the bushes- by himself.
Not too smart. Fortunately we're reading about their jail time instead of something much worse.
Barker style
One life time revocation of hunting, fishing, and trapping was handed down with 65 years of hunting, fishing, and trapping split among the other four.
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So the other four got to share 65 years of "future" hunting?
Cue This Classic Song:
"Yankee Fork," by the (Vintage) Braun Brothers
Tricky investigation required waiting
It used to be the law that possession of an uncased firearm while in the field created a presumption that an individual was hunting. This was unconstitutional (contrary to both Idaho's and the US Constitutions) as pertaining to firearm possession and the presumption of innocence, so the statute was repealed.
Until the elk was taken, there was no way officers could charge them with anything (with the possible exception of conspiracy, but they had no evidence at that time; dunno about the deer - the article doesn't provide enough detail on that one). Accordingly, F&G officers had to wait and watch them. Once the animal was taken, there was tangible physical evidence of things they were ultimately charged with, and likely more evidence was obtained against the men when the officers interviewed them.
Good catch, F&G!
prevention
The point is, they don't HAVE to be charged with anything.
And maybe they don't have to kill a trophy bull if F&G makes their presence known beforehand.
Is conviction the ONLY option F&G wants to pursue?
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FBI gets information some nutjobs are going to blow up a NYC building.
Do they just wait in hiding until it happens?
"Well we got our tangible evidence..."
That would only serve to
That would only serve to allow them to move to another location to poach. By waiting until the crime was committed, they stand a better chance of stopping these punks.
Illegals
Not a check if they were Illegal Aliens. Not good.
I am amazed that some
I am amazed that some posters think these guys should have been arrested before committing a crime. I would be majorly offended to be arrested for simply carrying a gun in the great outdoors.
No doubt you were blowing kisses at the beasts.
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It's still clunky and the writing is horrible as usual
misread
No one is saying that romexsnow.
Obviously a person can not be 'arrested' before committing a crime.
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There are alternatives to waiting until a crime is committed though.