Sometimes, Poachers Must Pay

The odds are overwhelmingly against the handful of agents who must patrol the backcountry where poachers prowl. But occasionally justice prevails.

For example, Timothy Hamilton, 39, of Moyie Springs, Idaho, may think twice before he tries to steal another elk.

On Oct. 20, Earl Stephens, also of Moyie Springs, had shot, tagged, field dressed and photographed a yearling bull elk before continuing up a hill with his hunting partners. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton came along with a four-wheeler and dragged the carcass away. The thief was halfway around Perkins Lake when Stephens’ party caught up with him.

“I tried to run him off the road but he got around me,” Stephens said. “One of my boys headed him off, though, and held him at gunpoint until we got a sheriff’s deputy up there.”

Hamilton later was fined $159 for ruining the front quarters of the elk and $100 plus four days in jail for petty theft, said Greg Johnson, Idaho Fish and Game Department agent.

The petty theft charge irks Stephens, who says there’s nothing petty about stealing an elk.

But Agent Johnson said Hamilton had a clean record until this offense, so he charged him with a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

Moose poacher pays: Of the 29 moose poaching cases reported in the Idaho Panhandle last fall, only four have been solved.

“It’s a slow, difficult process,” said Steve Agte, Idaho Fish and Game Department enforcement chief in Coeur d’Alene.

A case in the St. Joe River area was closed when a hunter who had been with an outfitter turned himself in after mistaking a moose for an elk.

One case near Spirit Lake was solved with a search warrant; another near Priest River was cracked with a telephone tip.

But the sweetest moose poaching victory this season for Agent Johnson was nailing William Fenton of Post Falls.

After hearing a shot across a drainage, an anonymous hunter in Boundary County scanned the area with his binoculars. Dusk was near, but the hunter spotted Fenton in the distance acting strangely, walking back and forth from his rig.

The anonymous hunter saw a flash from a camera in the waning light before Fenton drove off, obviously not taking enough time to field dress an elk.

The savvy hunter had the sense to memorize Fenton’s license plate. He dialed Idaho’s Citizens Against Poaching hotline and gave the information.

“When I was able to find Mr. Fenton and his girlfriend, he denied any wrongdoing,” Agent Johnson said. “The funny part was when I asked him for the pictures he’d taken of his kill. His eyes got real big, and he asked me if Fish and Game had satellites up there watching his every move.”

Once Fenton knew the agent had the goods on him, he showed Johnson a moose rack hidden under a pile of camping gear. Johnson also found the Polaroid photos Fenton’s girlfriend had taken of him in the field with the illegally killed moose.

Unfortunately, the meat head had no moose tag, and he left about 700 pounds of meat to rot in the field.

“He was fined the minimum $2,000 for wasting game and spent four days in jail,” Johnson said. “I’m disappointed that the judge took away his hunting privileges for only a year. He could have taken them away for up to six years. But maybe the guy’s learned his lesson.”

All in the family: Intermingled in the many conversations at our holiday gatherings was this brief chat with my father-in-law, who’s been farming the Palouse, I believe, since shortly after the world was created:

“Richard, I’ve got to tell you that I take a lot of heat at the morning coffee club for some of the things you write.”

“Well, maybe you should find another group of guys to drink coffee with every morning, Leonard.”

“No, they’re a good bunch of guys, but some of the things you write, they don’t agree with.”

“What things in particular, Leonard. Surely they don’t mind the stories about fishing, hiking and stuff like that do they?”

“It’s the environmental stuff that gets them going.”

“I don’t really mean all that stuff about conservation, Leonard. I just make it up for your benefit.”

“What do you mean.”

“If they weren’t talking about me, they’d probably be talking about you.”

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Rich Landers by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5508.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review