Monday, May 03, 2010

Man found guilty of poaching 707-pound Pennsylvania bear

© By Othmar Vohringer

From a press release.

HARRISBURG, PA. — A Pennsylvania man has been found guilty of using pastries to illegally bait the largest bear killed in the state during the 2009 season.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission says the 39-year-old Wilkes-Barre resident was found guilty Thursday and was ordered to pay $6,800 in fines and restitution, plus court costs.

Game Commission officials say the man admitted using bait to help him attract and kill the 707-pound bear. They say he first raised suspicions when he was spotted a week before the hunting season driving a truck loaded with pastries through a heavily hunted area.

Olsen also stands to lose his hunting and trapping privileges for at least three years.

“What is most unfortunate is that law-abiding bear hunters in the area were robbed of the opportunity to legally harvest truly a trophy bear by fair chase means,” said Northeast Region Law Enforcement Supervisor Dan Figured.


News like this really upsets me. It’s bad enough that poachers steal our game and the media confuses poachers with hunters (I changed “hunter” with “man” in the original press release). But that a poacher kills a state record animal is just heart breaking.

This is one huge bear, probably the largest black bear I’ve ever seen dead or alive. The picture doesn’t do the bear’s size justice. Look at the critters feet, huge like a grizzly.


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4 comments:

Ken Morrow said...

3 years off from hunting and a $7k trophy fee? I know a lot of folks who wouldn't bat an eye at that to bag that fella. PA needs to re-think their game laws!

I have a suggestion:

Stake the jackass to a telephone pole and cover him in molasses near where he killed that bear.

Anonymous said...

It is things like that that really tick me off. Not only does it ruin a possible hunt for others but it makes us all look bad.

A fine and loss of license is not enough. I have said for year that if you can't do it legal like the rest of us than you need to do the time like normal criminals.

Whitetail Woods

CVA Wolf Black Powder Rifle Give-Away!

Holly Heyser said...

Rick: I second that!

Othmar Vohringer said...

Thank you all for sharing your views.

The thing that me always laugh. NOT! is when I read things like "...banned from hunting for (put numbers of years here)..." Yea right that sure is going to stop a poacher, read lawbreaker. That's like saying to a shoplifter, "You're not permitted to enter any stores." Whose going to stop him?

We need to get a lot tougher on these guys, prison would be a good start.

-ov-

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