A 29-year-old Washington man is facing a slew of criminal charges after posting up his illegal kills on social media.
In a world where we are (rightfully) questioning everything we see online, in the case against Jason Smith of North Bend, we’re thankful Washington State officials took it to the next level.
With a slew of social media posts detailing the young man’s hunting adventures, officials began to take notice of the dates, times and locations of his alleged kills. Cross-referencing a number of platforms such as onX Maps, text messages and social media monitoring, officials began to piece things together following a warrant that provided access to Smith’s phone.
The incidents began as early as September 2021 when images of a dead bull elk surfaced on Smith’s Instagram profile. The investigation later found that the elk was killed on September 11th, but Smith did not purchase a tag until October 1st.
The posts continued as later that month he recorded and posted up video of a pair of bear cubs and a sow feeding on a bait pile outside of his home. Shortly after the video was posted, his profile featured a new image featuring a bloodied leaf, leading his followers to believe that he was on the trail of a dead or wounded animal.
During the investigation, officials found a number of photos and videos of the bears along with marked GPS locations labeled as ‘cubs treed’.
A week following the blood trail post, he photographed a dead bear located near the bait pile and posted up a grip and grin of himself and the bear with the endearing caption reading:
“I wanted this bear bad especially after my failed attempt a week prior. Persistence in the mountains pays. If you quit, the hunt is over. I love that there are no participation trophies in the mountains. You get what you earn. Nothing more, nothing less.”
In addition to failing to submit the bear’s premolar tooth, it was later found that Smith’s 2021 total illegal kill count included three bears shot over bait, four deer and the bull elk. He followed up 2021’s strong showing with another spree in 2022 in which he took three elk and one black bear, again over a bait pile. Over the two years, it was found that Smith hunted without proper tags, hunted during closed seasons, hunted over the bag limit, failed to submit bear premolars, retrieved animals from private property without permission, and wasted wildlife.
Overall, Smith is now facing 32 criminal counts, including two felonies, 27 gross misdemeanors, and three misdemeanors. For the two felony charges, the accused could face up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. Each of the misdemeanor charges of second-degree unlawful hunting of big game, unlawful black bear hunting, and unlawful waste of wildlife carry penalties of up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. The remaining misdemeanor charges for unlawful hunting or retrieving wildlife from private property carry up to 90 days in jail and $1,000 fines.
Add all that up and it becomes very apparent that this young man will likely be spending a lot of time alone, with a lot less money in his pockets.
Hashtag #busted.
