Arizona guide loses hunting rights in 47 states

[elecshoc]

Haven't anything about this yet. What are your thoughts on the whole situation?

 

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/01/23/prominent-arizona-guide-loses-hunting-rights-in-47-states-for-poaching-a-desert-bighorn-in-utah/

After poaching a desert bighorn in Utah, prominent Arizona guide loses hunting rights in 47 state A jury in Kanab found that Larry Altimus, 69, faked living in Utah to secure one of the coveted big-game tags considered ‘huge in the hunting world.’

 

Most big-game hunters can go their entire lives and never get a chance to legally shoot one of Utah’s desert bighorn sheep, a privilege reserved for fewer than 40 lucky hunters each year.

After 21 failed tries, Arizona big-game hunting guide Larry Altimus finally landed such a permit in 2014 soon after taking up residence in Kanab, the Utah town on the Arizona line in the heart of desert bighorn country. But a jury later determined that Altimus was merely pretending to be a Utah resident for the sake of taking one of the state’s most valuable wildlife trophies.

In addition to a felony conviction and more than $30,000 in fines and restitution, the act of fraud will also now cost Altimus his hunting privileges, under a recent decision by a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources hearing officer. The ban will apply not just in Utah, but 46 other states as well.

While Altimus may still guide hunting clients, he cannot hunt for the next 10 years, according to DWR spokesman Mark Hadley.

“He not only stole the permit. He used the permit he wasn’t entitled to to kill an animal,” Hadley said.

Based in the southeast Arizona town of Pearce, Altimus, 69, operates his company Hunter Application Service and guides hunters in pursuit of trophy animals in several Western states. Altimus, who did not return a phone message Monday, has hunted and guided hundreds of times in the Southwest and has appeared on industry magazine covers with his trophies.

Bighorn sheep are among the most coveted big-game species to hunt. Utah’s system for issuing tags for such hunts gives an advantage to those who have tried and failed to get permits in past years.

Hunters earn a bonus point each time they unsuccessfully apply for a particular big-game species. Altimus actively sought these Utah tags, and by 2013, he had amassed 21 points toward a desert bighorn sheep, more points than earned by any in-state hunter, according to court records.

Even with this trove of points, the chance Altimus would draw a nonresident bighorn sheep permit were still slim.

“But if he claimed residency in Utah, he knew he had a good chance of drawing a permit reserved for Utah residents,” said DWR director Mike Fowlks.

Under Utah law, however, hunters are not to obtain a resident hunting permit if they move to the state for a “special or temporary purpose.” As someone who makes a living helping clients obtain hunting tags, Altimus was well aware of the rules, according to Kane County prosecutor Jeff Stott.

At trial last July, Stott had to convince a jury that Altimus knowingly took steps to illegally game Utah’s system for awarding sheep tags, which can auction for as high as $70,000.

In 2014, according to DWR data, 5,174 Utah hunters vied for 35 desert bighorn tags, while 7,184 nonresidents vied for three.

“This is a big tag,” Stott said. “It’s huge in the hunting world.”

Big enough, it appears, for Altimus to uproot his life for a few months.

In August 2013, he rented a house in Kanab, moved his belongings there and obtained a Utah driver license, according to Stott. Using the Kanab address, Altimus applied the following March, not long after meeting the six-month threshold for residency, and drew a permit to take a bighorn from the famed Zion hunting unit — just one of 11 awarded that year.

“We proved it was all for this permit,” Stott said. A few weeks after winning the tag, Altimus moved back to Arizona, then returned for the fall hunt, where he bagged a ram.

After three days of testimony in Kanab’s 6th District Court, the jury returned a guilty verdict for wanton destruction of wildlife, a third-degree felony. Judge Wallace Lee ordered Altimus to pay DWR $30,000 in restitution, payable in monthly payments of $1,000 as part of his three months on probation. He also lost his right to possess a firearm and hunt in Utah during that period. Officials had already seized the ram trophy, whose prodigious horns curled into a full circle.

But the real punishment was meted out by DWR, which filed a petition to revoke Altimus’ hunting privileges for 10 years in the states participating in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, which includes all 50 states but Delaware, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

A hearing officer affirmed the recommendation, although the order could be appealed to the Utah Wildlife Board.

 

[Delw]

HAHA thats why I had to read it 3 times

he had a house in Arizona an a dl in utah.

far from poaching, he was using a loophole like most everyone does here in AZ to get around things.

[daryl_s]

“We proved it was all for this permit,” Stott said.

 

​I am curious to know how they proved that it was all for the permit. The article is kind of vague. I am not taking a side either way, I just would like some more detailed information. Also, it seems totally backwards that someone could lose their hunting privileges for 10 years and still be allowed to guide.

[Big Browns]

I definitely would not say he was a poacher! The only reason they were able to convict him was because of the wording in the regulations "Special or Temporary" purpose. If he would have stayed in the state longer he probably wouldn't have had any issues. He used a loophole to get the tag, but in the end a loophole is what got him convicted. I feel the penalty was way to much as well......

[daryl_s]

I kind of feel the same way. There were probably some very upset residents that pushed hard to go after this guy.

[HuntHarder]

This is horseshit.. So what if he lived there for 6 months, got the tag and then moved back. If this wasn't a cliff carp, I'm sure this doesn't get this far.

[trphyhntr]

“We proved it was all for this permit,” Stott said.

 

​I am curious to know how they proved that it was all for the permit. The article is kind of vague. I am not taking a side either way, I just would like some more detailed information. Also, it seems totally backwards that someone could lose their hunting privileges for 10 years and still be allowed to guide.

i looked up some other articles, he rented the house in kanab short term and moved right back to az as soon as he killed the sheep.

 

 

i would guess heres 100's of out of staters with second homes here that put in as resident.

[ready2hunt]

I hate how law enforcement using platforms such as these to send a message to other people.

 

How is it this guy cannot hunt in 47 states for the next 10 years but, that Douche Bag of a Guide in Southern AZ that keeps popping up on this forum get fined 30k to be split among ALL the people he has screwed over and he doesn't lose his hunting privileges or anything.

 

So bass ackwards.

[1uglydude]

 

“We proved it was all for this permit,” Stott said.

 

​I am curious to know how they proved that it was all for the permit. The article is kind of vague. I am not taking a side either way, I just would like some more detailed information. Also, it seems totally backwards that someone could lose their hunting privileges for 10 years and still be allowed to guide.

i looked up some other articles, he rented the house in kanab short term and moved right back to az as soon as he killed the sheep.

 

 

i would guess heres 100's of out of staters with second homes here that put in as resident.

 

Actually, he moved back as soon as he drew the tag. He didn't hunt the sheep until many months later.

 

The same thing would happen in a non-resident tried this in Arizona. You have to show that you are a bona fide resident for all legal purposes. That requires more than a rental contract and a drivers license. They can and will subpoena your financial and tax records, employment history, utility billing and use, vehicle registrations, etc.

[wildwoody]

love it, let him swing..

[bonecollector777]

It said he lived there from like august of 13 to June of 14 then he moved back to AZ. If he truly lived there I don't see how they could say you're not a resident? In AZ if you moved here for 6 months, bought a lifetime license the next day and then moved back to wherever you came from you would be in the resident pool for the rest of your life.

[BOWUNTR]

That's not a loophole... his intent was to defraud a Utah resident out of a sheep tag... period. If I was a Utard I'd want him to swing. Ed F

[bonecollector777]

It's not defrauding anyone if you have literally done everything required to become a resident.

[naturebob]

The law did what it should of done. He was never a Resident...Gotta be smarter than that. heck that tag was worth living there for a year and paying taxes there. Dumb on his part......BOB!

[BOWUNTR]

It's not defrauding anyone if you have literally done everything required to become a resident.

Really.... Apparently a jury felt differently. If you were drawn #11 for 10 Arizona resident Bighorn tags and someone did this you'd be screaming the loudest. He never was a resident of Utah and he never intended to be... so that he could fraudulently obtain a Utah sheep tag. If you can't see that... we see the law through different sides, obviously. Ed F