MI man fined and revoked for killing elk too close to homes

[Kilimanjaro]

That's the biggest crock of crap Ive read in a long time.. I truely am beginning to dislike AZGF more and more everyday..

 

He shoots the elk too close to someone's residence.. Ok, he shoulda been fined for that and that should have been that, a ticket and fine that he paid. Case closed.. But because he was hunting in July, the guy had money and such, the warden took this case "personal" and literally threw the book at the guy and fined him with everything he could, confiscated the elk, etc.. Then the hunter gets a double dose from AZ by getting hit with a civil suit as well!! Pure crap. And then "wonder guide" John skates off with not so much as a slap on the wrist!! If I were that hunter, I'd take him straight to court and sue him for every penny he was ordered to pay in the civil suit.. He was the hired guide, and it was and IS his resposiblity to know where he is hunting. This case really boiled my blood.

[Stray Horse]

I remember this crap happened in Alpine about 5yrs ago with USO. That's some real elk hunting

[elkaholic]

Hello - ok - the guide didn't gain financially - hmmmm - little smelly here! At least they couldn't prove he received payment -I never heard of a guide not discussing somekind of payment for his services- I wonder what the "TIP" would have been for a 430 class bull - HMMMMM

 

[bobbyo]

That's the biggest crock of crap Ive read in a long time.. I truely am beginning to dislike AZGF more and more everyday..

 

He shoots the elk too close to someone's residence.. Ok, he shoulda been fined for that and that should have been that, a ticket and fine that he paid. Case closed.. But because he was hunting in July, the guy had money and such, the warden took this case "personal" and literally threw the book at the guy and fined him with everything he could, confiscated the elk, etc.. Then the hunter gets a double dose from AZ by getting hit with a civil suit as well!! Pure crap. And then "wonder guide" John skates off with not so much as a slap on the wrist!! If I were that hunter, I'd take him straight to court and sue him for every penny he was ordered to pay in the civil suit.. He was the hired guide, and it was and IS his resposiblity to know where he is hunting. This case really boiled my blood.

 

Agree completely. He got the shaft. I believe G+F thought they had to do it to protect their Gov tags integrity. yada yada. Should of just levied a large fine Tne guy probably was not real anxious to come back to Arizona to hunt, Anyway he sure is going to get real bored going to Mexico, Canada and Africa.

[ruffcountry]

Looks like this case may bt best argument for "Make your first shot Count ". In many jurisdictions you can not follow wounded game onto private property without permission . I do think that the fact that the bull was wounded before they went on private property is an extenuatimg circumstance and that g&f and the courts were a little heavy handed .

[Huntmoore]

You guys really think they went too hard on him? Do we really want to be knon as state who goes light on our governors tag holders or super raffle tag holders. These are guys who can pay a $2,000 fine without flinching...so it seems like the tag holders would just write a blank chack to G&F and violate as many laws as they want. I don't agree that McClendon should have gooten of scott free....and I don't believe he was getting nothing from the hunter...but the guy obviously killed that elk within spitting distance of homes...they should throw the book at him! (although considering what he paid for the tag, it probably still won't hurt him). I don't want our state to be known as a pushover state that can be bought off for making serious violations in order to bag a trophy.

[Huntmoore]

I don't see where it says the first shot wasn't a violation...it says he "shot, wounded, and eventually killed the bull in a privately owned meadow"....that makes me think it all happened in the meadow. And the WM heard the first shot and investigated...so he must have at least suspected a violation on the first shot?

[bobbyo]

You guys really think they went too hard on him? Do we really want to be knon as state who goes light on our governors tag holders or super raffle tag holders. These are guys who can pay a $2,000 fine without flinching...so it seems like the tag holders would just write a blank chack to G&F and violate as many laws as they want. I don't agree that McClendon should have gooten of scott free....and I don't believe he was getting nothing from the hunter...but the guy obviously killed that elk within spitting distance of homes...they should throw the book at him! (although considering what he paid for the tag, it probably still won't hurt him). I don't want our state to be known as a pushover state that can be bought off for making serious violations in order to bag a trophy.

 

 

Good point! But I think it was extreme because the penalty is not consistent with what others have been punished with. Many get a ticket. Nobody loses their hunting privleges for five years for the same violation. Find just one example. It was posted on this site before that some do not get license suspended for outright poaching. No license no tag no nothing.

 

Many people are re-posting rumors, innuendos as fact. Read the articles Amanda listed. The basic reason for the extreme prosecution of this hunter is he shot the local pet. Sure it was a 433 inch pet. Still a pet that the hunter shot in the view of many houses. This pissed everyone off. We as hunters even if completely legal need to refrain from this type of harvesting. It gives hunting a bad name.

Bob

[Snapshot]

The last time this topic came up it turned into a big free for all I ain't sayin nuttin

[cbryant11]

quote from one of the articles doug posted:

 

"Antonini also found McClendon not guilty on his charge because the state did not provide sufficient evidence showing he directly gained financially from the hunt."

 

 

for them not making money off this guy they sure throw his name around a bunch on there website,,,,,,,,cbryant

[bowsniper]

So what is this "the commission voted to civilly assess Malik $14,995 for the state’s loss of the 408-point" crap? The state didn't lose a 408" elk, the guy already had paid $130,000 for it. Not that the guy can't afford the fine, but to me it looks like the state got paid twice for the same elk. (Maybe they refunded the $130,000?)

 

Mark

[Sundevils79]

If I'm not mistaken the AZ law has been 1/4 mile from any occupied structure as long as I can remember. I'm sure his home state of Michigan has a very similar law. If this dummy can afford to pay $135,000 for a tag he certainly should be able to read to laws. Does it suck that some of the biggest animals always seem to be camped on some anti-hunters front yard? Yes, but the law is the law. It no different for any of the rest of us...should he be shown special consideration cause he paid so much money? Heck no....just think of the extra $15k as a trophy fee. As for the guide his guide license should have been revoked for the term that the hunter got. I have never taken the AZ guide test nor will I ever but the requirement to pass the ethics portion must consist of just being able to spell your name. Some of the biggest law breakers and poachers I have ever known seem to always have a current AZ guide license.

[SunDevil]

last time this topic came up I went to the guides website and he had a couple pics of the bull on his front page. will that help him gain financially?

[.270]

this guy could hunt any public land in Az for one year. he could shoot any elk he saw, anytime he saw it, anyplace he saw it, for one calendar year, starting aug 1. so he waited until the last few days of the year long season and shot a half tame bull in a subdivision. a bull that was on it's way onto public land to bed for the day. a bull that he could have waited a few minutes to shoot and nothing would have happened. he deserves at least what he got. this ain't a hunt. he paid big bucks for information as to the whereabouts of the elk, flew in and shot it. like i've said all along, if you have to rely on a tape measure to know if you're legal or not, you might oughta think twice about the shot. this is one time i'm on the azgfd's side. and that ain't often. he could have done any one of dozens of other things and been legal. he could have hunted earlier in the year. he could have hunted in some wild country and had a real experience. he could have hunted anywhere in the state. during the rut, in the winter time, late winter, any one of innumerable ways and places. real hunts. instead he shot a bull in a subdivision and got pinched for it. and did a completely miserable job of shooting. no hunting was involved here. no skill was used. another guy with a lot of money that thought the laws pertained to only the little people. this is another good reason to do away with the auction tags. Lark.

[Kilimanjaro]

this guy could hunt any public land in Az for one year. he could shoot any elk he saw, anytime he saw it, anyplace he saw it, for one calendar year, starting aug 1. so he waited until the last few days of the year long season and shot a half tame bull in a subdivision. a bull that was on it's way onto public land to bed for the day. a bull that he could have waited a few minutes to shoot and nothing would have happened. he deserves at least what he got. this ain't a hunt. he paid big bucks for information as to the whereabouts of the elk, flew in and shot it. like i've said all along, if you have to rely on a tape measure to know if you're legal or not, you might oughta think twice about the shot. this is one time i'm on the azgfd's side. and that ain't often. he could have done any one of dozens of other things and been legal. he could have hunted earlier in the year. he could have hunted in some wild country and had a real experience. he could have hunted anywhere in the state. during the rut, in the winter time, late winter, any one of innumerable ways and places. real hunts. instead he shot a bull in a subdivision and got pinched for it. and did a completely miserable job of shooting. no hunting was involved here. no skill was used. another guy with a lot of money that thought the laws pertained to only the little people. this is another good reason to do away with the auction tags. Lark.

 

 

If there was any way possible to disagree with this statement above any more than I do, I'd actually PAY to be able to say it on here without it getting nuked in about 2 seconds here on CWT. It actually made me chuckle.