May 03, 2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ELKO, Nev. (AP) - Thanks to tips from other hunters, three men have
been convicted of Nevada hunting violations - two for shooting a deer
out of season without a tag and one for leaving 350 pounds of elk meat
to waste.
"The success of these cases hinged on information provided by
concerned sportsmen," said Rob Buonamici, chief game warden at the
Nevada Department of Wildlife.
"We cannot be everywhere at every moment, so we rely heavily on tips
from those sportsmen and women who really care about ethical hunting and
Nevada's wildlife resources," he said.
In the first case, two men shot and killed a two-point mule deer buck
in a remote portion of Elko County near a drilling site where they were
working well outside of hunting season. Neither had a valid tag,
Buonamici said.
The two men from Bakersfield, Calif., took the hindquarters for meat,
but left the rest of the animal to waste.
Ricky Lee Linderman, 46, was convicted of a gross misdemeanor for
unlawful killing of a big game animal. He was sentenced to 24 months
probation, given a $1,500 fine and a $2,000 civil penalty.
Scott Griffith, 44, pleaded guilty to one felony count of an ex-felon
in possession of a firearm and a gross misdemeanor for killing a big
game animal without a valid tag.
He was sentenced to 48 months on the firearms charge and 10 months on
the poaching charge to run concurrently, but both terms were suspended.
Griffith also was placed on 48 months supervised probation and paid a
$5000 civil penalty to NDOW for loss of the mule deer.
In an unrelated case, a Henderson man was convicted in Tonopah
Justice Court of needless waste of a game animal, a misdemeanor.
Glenn Jobski, 42, shot and killed a bull elk with a valid tag, but he
took only the antlers and about 40 pounds of meat, leaving approximately
350 pounds of meat to waste, NDOW officials said.
He received a suspended sentence of five days in jail. He was ordered
to pay $600 in fines and court costs and another $500 in civil
penalties.
Jobski will also lose all hunting privileges for three years.
"We take each and every wildlife crime seriously," said Joe Maslach,
game warden in Eureka. "These crimes deprive sportsmen of the
opportunity to legally hunt these animals, and these crimes also hurt
our wildlife management efforts."
