March 13, 2012
By Andy Walgamott, SportsManMag.com
An Entiat Valley, Wash., man who killed a trophy muley in a unit
he didn't have a special permit for last November will pay a hefty
fine and won't be hunting this fall.
Ryan R. Wood, 35, drew
into a coveted Chiwawa Unit buck tag, but instead illegally killed
the deer in an orchard over in the Entiat Unit. Then he and his
father, Glen R. Wood, 62, transported it up the valley to gut in the
Chiwawa to make it seem legit.
They were foiled, however, by
the valley's eyes and ears, and the work of WDFW Officers Eric
Oswald and Graham Grant.
Ryan Wood plead guilty late last
month in Chelan County District Court to single charges of unlawful
hunting of big game in the second degree and giving false
information. He was fined a total of $6,200 and sentenced to a day
on a Department of Corrections work crew.
In addition, WDFW
retained his Remington Model 700 from the incident and will revoke
his hunting privileges for the next two seasons.
Glen Wood
also plead guilty to unlawful hunting of big game, second degree,
was fined $6,000 and will also be sitting out the 2012 and 2013
hunts too.
The fines are particularly steep because the buck
was a 4-pointer, and under the state's laws, that qualifies it as a
trophy and the enhanced penalty.
The fine for poaching bucks with 3 points or fewer on a side, not
counting eyeguards, is $2,000.
Oswald credited the tipster
who called WDFW's poaching hotline (1-877-933-9847) for making the
case.
"Without the call it would have been really difficult
to solve this case," he said. "Thanks to guys willing to step
forward and report this stuff."
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