There aren’t many days that pass that we don’t personally gripe about modern technology. Despite our endless conversations about the ‘way it used to be’, we’ve all agreed that in some moments, technology can come in awfully handy.
Wildlife officials in Washington State experienced a moment much like that last month after receiving a tip from the owner of a cellular trail camera. Receiving a notification from his cellular camera, the owner witnessed multiple radio-collared hounds in pursuit of a black bear. Remaining as attentive as a school boy watching a skin flick,eventually the climax he was waiting for appeared; a man following the dogs toting a high-powered rifle in his hands.
He immediately alerted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife of the incident as he watched it unfold in real time. A female officer that was close-by was dispatched to the site and found the suspect vehicle with an adult and toddler inside. Following a quick Q&A session, the man in the truck feigned ignorance to what was happening in the nearby woods. The officer decided to wait it out and see if that statement held any merit.
Without surprise, the suspect soon emerged from the woods with his legion of hounds by his side. Three of the dogs had fresh lacerations on their faces, wounds the owner claimed were the result of some brisk exercise in the woods. The suspect was no longer holding the rifle, but soon decided it would be best to cooperate with the officers.
The 31-year-old suspect led the officers to the bear carcass, his rifle and another handgun he had stashed during the incident. Officers wasted no time arresting the suspect on charges for closed season bear hunting, unlawful use of dogs to pursue bear, hunt while trespassing and waste of big game. Each of the aforementioned charges, with the exception of hunt while trespass, are gross misdemeanor crimes and are punishable by up to one year in jail and can result in upwards of a $5,000 fine and a $2,000 criminal wildlife penalty.
The suspects’ pickup truck, rifle, handgun and GPS collars were also seized as part of the investigation.“The stars lined up on this case. We were fortunate that this crime was captured by a cellular trail camera that alerted the owner who then quickly called it in, “Captain Dan Chadwick said. “We also had an officer only minutes away and that is rare for our skeleton crew to be that close to an in-progress big game poaching.” We are grateful for the citizen who called to report this crime.
