Sheep Poached 2 times
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MuleyMadness
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Sheep Poached 2 times
Interesting read here...
Charges filed
Poached hunting trophy poached again, say cops
By Stephen Hunt
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 04/28/2007 01:27:53 AM MDT
Division of Wildlife Resources Capt. John Pratt describes... (Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune )
The head of an illegally killed Alaskan Dall sheep - which was being used by Utah wildlife authorities to decry the evils of poaching - was "poached" a second time by the hunter who originally killed it, according to criminal charges filed this week.
Utah officials had confiscated the sheep head from Mapleton resident Wade L. Hanks, who shot it unlawfully a decade ago while hunting in Alaska.
But on Jan. 15, Hanks allegedly stole it back as Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees were preparing to display it and other poached animals during a hunting and conservation expo at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
The mounted sheep's head was hanging in the DWR's "Help Stop Poaching" display trailer. Hanks was helping at a nearby exhibit.
Apparently desirous to once again possess the confiscated head, with its white fur and impressive set of curled horns, Hanks allegedly wasted no time getting it back.
Hanks, and a friend, Tyrell C. Gray, allegedly stole the sheep's head while the employee in charge of the trailer was away on an errand.
When the employee returned, he immediately noticed the head was missing from its spot on the trailer's "Wall of Shame," said DWR Captain John Pratt.
But the crime was quickly solved with the help of surveillance video. The culprits, contacted that same night, allegedly admitted to
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the theft and led authorities to a storage shed in Utah County, where the sheep's head was recovered.
This week, Hanks, 37, and Gray, 31, of Spanish Fork, were charged with one count each of burglary and theft, third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison.
Gray is scheduled to surrender for jail booking during an April 30 arraignment hearing in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. No dates have been set for Hanks. Bail for both men is set at $5,000.
According to charging documents, the head has an estimated mounted value of about $1,700.
Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Vincent Meister said that number represents the average cost of buying a similarly mounted sheep's head from taxidermy shops, which sell mounted game animals for considerably more than it costs a hunter to have his own kill mounted.
Brenda Bond, owner of Wildlife Memories Taxidermy, in Sandy, put the cost of mounting a sheep's head and shoulders at about $700, although she said she had never had a request to do a Dall sheep, which do not live in Utah.
Dall sheep are found in Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and northwestern British Columbia.
Pratt called the stolen sheep's head a "trophy" in the sense that the horns have "a full curl, which is really desirable."
The head had been in the DWR's possession for about eight years, but Pratt was unable to say exactly when Hanks had killed the sheep.
Pratt said Utah authorities helped Alaska with their poaching case by seizing the sheep's head from Hanks. But he said the head probably remained in Utah because it was not worth shipping it back to Alaska.
It is a rare case where someone is prosecuted twice in connection with the same animal.
Pratt recalled only one other - a falconer who committed a burglary to steal back a confiscated bird. "It doesn't happen very often," Pratt said.
Asked why Hanks would risk a second criminal prosecution, Pratt said that Alaskan hunting trips can cost thousands of dollars when you add up airfare, hunting licenses, guide services and other outfitting expenditures.
The investment - and the bragging rights - multiplies for hunters intent on achieving what is known as a Grand Slam, which requires bagging all four North American wild sheep species: the Dall, Stone bighorn, and desert bighorn.
Pratt said convictions for poaching wildlife usually result in fines and restitution payments, rather than jail time.
But because Hanks and Gray are charged with burglary and theft, this case may be different. "Third-degree felonies generally pull some jail time."
shunt@sltrib.com
Charges filed
Poached hunting trophy poached again, say cops
By Stephen Hunt
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 04/28/2007 01:27:53 AM MDT
Division of Wildlife Resources Capt. John Pratt describes... (Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune )
The head of an illegally killed Alaskan Dall sheep - which was being used by Utah wildlife authorities to decry the evils of poaching - was "poached" a second time by the hunter who originally killed it, according to criminal charges filed this week.
Utah officials had confiscated the sheep head from Mapleton resident Wade L. Hanks, who shot it unlawfully a decade ago while hunting in Alaska.
But on Jan. 15, Hanks allegedly stole it back as Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees were preparing to display it and other poached animals during a hunting and conservation expo at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
The mounted sheep's head was hanging in the DWR's "Help Stop Poaching" display trailer. Hanks was helping at a nearby exhibit.
Apparently desirous to once again possess the confiscated head, with its white fur and impressive set of curled horns, Hanks allegedly wasted no time getting it back.
Hanks, and a friend, Tyrell C. Gray, allegedly stole the sheep's head while the employee in charge of the trailer was away on an errand.
When the employee returned, he immediately noticed the head was missing from its spot on the trailer's "Wall of Shame," said DWR Captain John Pratt.
But the crime was quickly solved with the help of surveillance video. The culprits, contacted that same night, allegedly admitted to
Advertisement
the theft and led authorities to a storage shed in Utah County, where the sheep's head was recovered.
This week, Hanks, 37, and Gray, 31, of Spanish Fork, were charged with one count each of burglary and theft, third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison.
Gray is scheduled to surrender for jail booking during an April 30 arraignment hearing in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. No dates have been set for Hanks. Bail for both men is set at $5,000.
According to charging documents, the head has an estimated mounted value of about $1,700.
Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Vincent Meister said that number represents the average cost of buying a similarly mounted sheep's head from taxidermy shops, which sell mounted game animals for considerably more than it costs a hunter to have his own kill mounted.
Brenda Bond, owner of Wildlife Memories Taxidermy, in Sandy, put the cost of mounting a sheep's head and shoulders at about $700, although she said she had never had a request to do a Dall sheep, which do not live in Utah.
Dall sheep are found in Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and northwestern British Columbia.
Pratt called the stolen sheep's head a "trophy" in the sense that the horns have "a full curl, which is really desirable."
The head had been in the DWR's possession for about eight years, but Pratt was unable to say exactly when Hanks had killed the sheep.
Pratt said Utah authorities helped Alaska with their poaching case by seizing the sheep's head from Hanks. But he said the head probably remained in Utah because it was not worth shipping it back to Alaska.
It is a rare case where someone is prosecuted twice in connection with the same animal.
Pratt recalled only one other - a falconer who committed a burglary to steal back a confiscated bird. "It doesn't happen very often," Pratt said.
Asked why Hanks would risk a second criminal prosecution, Pratt said that Alaskan hunting trips can cost thousands of dollars when you add up airfare, hunting licenses, guide services and other outfitting expenditures.
The investment - and the bragging rights - multiplies for hunters intent on achieving what is known as a Grand Slam, which requires bagging all four North American wild sheep species: the Dall, Stone bighorn, and desert bighorn.
Pratt said convictions for poaching wildlife usually result in fines and restitution payments, rather than jail time.
But because Hanks and Gray are charged with burglary and theft, this case may be different. "Third-degree felonies generally pull some jail time."
shunt@sltrib.com
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AntlersOutWest
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