May 1st, 2007
ELENA OLMSTEAD, HERALD VALLEY BUREAU
SUNNYSIDE -- A Sunnyside man has been fined $5,000 and banned from
hunting for two years after pleading guilty to baiting mourning doves
during a fall 2006 hunt on his property.
Corky Roberts, a law enforcement agent with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Services, said Monday that it's the first time a mourning dove
baiting case has been fully prosecuted in Eastern Washington.
Roberts said Calvin R. Howe used wheat and barley to attract the
birds to his property near Sunnyside. Once the mourning doves were lured
into the field, Howe and several others began hunting them.
Officials became suspicious when they noticed the number of birds
flocking to Howe's property. After contacting 10 hunters who had been at
the property, including Howe, Roberts said they learned many had bagged
more than the 10-bird limit -- another violation.
Nine Western Washington hunters who were on Howe's property were
fined from $700 to $1,525. Violations included exceeding the bag limit
and hunting over bait. The fines totaled $14,145.
Roberts said it's important for hunters to remember that it's their
responsibility to make sure the place they're hunting is legal. He said
they have to look and make sure baiting isn't happening.
"We're not here to stop dove hunting," Roberts said. "We're here to
make sure people are following the law."
For more information on a hunter's responsibility, visit
www.fws.gov/hunting/whatres.html
Fair Use Notice: This document may contain copyrighted material
whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe
that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes
a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section
107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted
material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must
obtain permission from the copyright owner.
