{"id":19933,"date":"2019-11-05T12:27:02","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T19:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61281"},"modified":"2019-11-05T12:27:02","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T19:27:02","slug":"wildlife-officials-say-hunting-violations-even-accidental-can-be-costly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/wildlife-officials-say-hunting-violations-even-accidental-can-be-costly\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife officials say hunting violations, even accidental, can be costly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"hunting<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The big game hunting season is upon us in Colorado, and some already
\nhave taken the opportunity to trek onto the area\u2019s recreational lands
\nwith hopes of snagging a moose or bear.<\/p>\n

Others have their eyes on
\nhunting deer or elk in the final few weeks of the season or are gearing
\nup for another of the state\u2019s small game or waterfowl seasons. But
\nregardless of each hunters\u2019 proclivities, law enforcement agents with
\nColorado Parks and Wildlife are around to ensure the proper monitoring
\nand managing of wildlife, and to protect one of the state\u2019s most
\nimportant natural resources.<\/p>\n

While most hunters are ethical sportsmen and women seeking the thrill and challenge of hunting for their own food, there are often bad actors in the field. And violations of the state\u2019s hunting laws, whether on purpose or accident, can have serious consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the people that participate in our activities \u2014 hunting,
\nfishing and even going to state parks \u2014 are absolutely trying to do the
\nright thing all the time,\u201d said Dean Riggs, northwest deputy regional
\nmanager with Parks and Wildlife. \u201cBut there are two major categories of
\npeople who often violate our rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the guy that makes the mistake and probably just doesn\u2019t understand the violations. They come from out of state, where things are done differently, and they\u2019re probably not doing it willfully. Then there\u2019s the other end of the spectrum, where I would use the word \u2018poacher\u2019 \u2014 the guy who knowingly and willingly, in spite of the law, goes out and violates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riggs said the number of violations in any given year is extremely
\nvariable, jumping up and down from year to year with seemingly no real
\ndriving factor. Violations do tend to be consistent with regard to
\nlocation and the type of \u201cwildlife interest\u201d in the area. Riggs noted
\nthat he came from the Pueblo region, where fishing violations were
\nabundant in contrast to his more recent role on the Western Slope, where
\nbig game violations are much more common.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most common
\nviolations are safety issues, Riggs said, including hunters who fail to
\nwear the required 500 inches of daylight fluorescent orange or pink
\nclothing, carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle, go onto private land
\nwithout permission to retrieve a harvested animal, and shoot too close
\nto the road, among others.<\/p>\n

And while these might seem like
\nrelatively innocuous infractions compared to something like poaching,
\nthe repercussions can be considerable \u2014 particularly because once a law
\nhas been broken, violations tend to snowball.<\/p>\n

Riggs gave the
\nexample of a hunter who gets over excited and decides to shoot a
\nsix-point bull elk but doesn\u2019t get far enough from the road before
\nfiring. For the initial violation, shooting from the road, the hunter
\ncould be fined $100 in addition to surcharges in the amounts of $37 and
\n$7.50.<\/p>\n

Because the animal was killed illegally, the hunter is now
\nalso liable for a $1,000 illegal possession fine in addition to more
\nsurcharges. Finally, because the bull elk is considered a trophy animal
\nunder Samson\u2019s Law \u2014 which prescribes fines for animals killed illegally
\nbased on horn or antler measurements \u2014 the hunter could be hit with an
\nadditional $10,000 fine.<\/p>\n

In addition to large fines, violations
\nalso can result in the suspension of a hunting license based on a
\n20-point system, similar to a driver\u2019s license. In the aforementioned
\nexample, Riggs said the shooting from the road violation would result in
\na five-point loss, and the illegal possession violation would result in
\na 15-point loss, enough to take someone\u2019s license away.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can
\neasily have four or five violations stemming from one mistake,\u201d Riggs
\nsaid. \u201cAll of a sudden, you start to add everything up, and you\u2019re
\nlooking at almost $12,000 in fines. But you could also be suspended in
\nour state, and almost every other state in the union, from legally
\nhunting and fishing. What I\u2019ve found is that fines are one thing for
\npeople with a certain level of income, but when you start talking about
\nsuspending a serious hunter\u2019s license, that really gets their
\nattention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado is one of 45 states in the Interstate
\nWildlife Violator Compact, meaning a license suspension or revocation
\nhere carries with you almost anywhere in the United States. Riggs noted
\nthat suspensions typically last between one and five years and that
\nrepeat or particularly egregious offenders could receive a lifetime ban.<\/p>\n

The problem of poaching<\/strong><\/p>\n

Certainly
\nnot all hunting violations are accidental, and Riggs said Parks and
\nWildlife deals with a small amount of willful offenders every year.
\nWildlife officials estimate poaching might be more widespread than most
\nrealize, with some national studies indicating that poachers kill almost
\nas many animals as legitimate hunters do during legal seasons.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, the most common forms of poaching include the
\nillegal hunting of bears for their gallbladders \u2014 Riggs noted they sell
\noverseas to Asia for a high cost \u2014 and poachers killing elk and deer, taking
\ntheir heads and antlers, and leaving the rest of the carcass.<\/p>\n

Riggs said in those cases, the penalties will be much more
\nsevere, typically including felony charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople kill all sorts
\nof critters because of the nature of the beast and the fact that
\nthey\u2019re going to somehow gain monetarily from those species,\u201d Riggs
\nsaid. \u201cUsually, that\u2019s the extreme end of the poaching industry. \u2026 But
\nI\u2019d also put some of those violators in the category of addicts. As they
\nviolate the law and don\u2019t get caught, they feel emboldened to continue.
\nThose are the real extreme people. Luckily in our business, it\u2019s like a
\n1% scenario, and we don\u2019t deal with it on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

While
\nmany hunting violations are simply mistakes, Riggs urged hunters to
\ntake another look at Parks and Wildlife\u2019s hunting brochures, which keep
\nhunters up to date with new rules and regulations each year. Riggs also
\nnoted that any hunter with questions should reach out to a
\nrepresentative with Parks and Wildlife before heading into the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt
\nthe end of the day, we want everyone to have a good time, enjoy our
\noutdoors and our great recreational opportunities,\u201d Riggs said. \u201cLaw
\nenforcement is a part of wildlife management. It\u2019s a necessary evil.
\nWe\u2019re really trying to protect you and make sure our natural resources
\nare taken care of into the future. But it all starts with the individual
\nhunter educating themselves and making sure they know why we manage,
\nhow we manage.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The big game hunting season is upon us in Colorado, and some already have taken the opportunity to trek onto the area\u2019s recreational lands with hopes of snagging a moose or bear. Others have their eyes on hunting deer or elk in the final few weeks of the season or are gearing up for another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 14:06:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}