"Something Bruin"

[GeauxLSU]

My lack of sympathy for poachers continues.

 

[mountainpass]

http://grahameditorial.com/editorial/2014/01/27/something-bruin-in-wnc/

A few of those affected organized a public forum a couple weeks ago, held in Swain County, and according to an article in Bear Hunting Magazine this “was billed as a chance for hunters and their families to talk about their experience as a target in Operation Something Bruin.” Hunters from all over WNC and even Georgia came to speak at the three-hour forum. The biggest complaint, according to the article, “was that the agents set up the hunters and used deceitful methods to trick them into breaking the law” and they called on the state to hold an inquiry into the undercover officers’ behavior.

Linda Crisp, a Graham County resident, wife and mother of two of the charged hunters, has been one of the lead organizers of this public forum. According to the play-by-play broadcast posted online by Bobby Coggins, with Macon Media, Mrs. Crisp said “eight armed men with bulletproof vests entered her home illegally and searched her home without telling her what they were searching for and proceeded to take things from her home not related to bear hunting.” Other women stood up to share similar stories of children being exposed to the trauma of the raids and items being taken during the raid that had no bearing on the case.

Published on Jan 20, 2014
Video of the first part of the public forum for regional bear hunters to share stories of mistreatment and abuse of power by state and federal officers involved in the four year "Operation Something Bruin" in western North Carolina and North Georgia.

 

[mountainpass]

My lack of sympathy for poachers continues.

They were not poaching, that's the thing.

 

[GeauxLSU]

They were not poaching, that's the thing.

Huh? There were no parts sold illegally? There was no baiting and running of dogs where illegal? There were no over the limit and out of season bears killed?

 

[HighTower]

I can appreciate the effort to stop poaching, but this sounds like the worst execution of an "operation" ive heard in a while. and to think these guys got awarded for their actions...

 

[mountainpass]

Huh? There were no parts sold illegally? There was no baiting and running of dogs where illegal? There were no over the limit and out of season bears killed?

Click the link on post 10

 

[GeauxLSU]

Click the link on post 10

That's just the June 10th sentencing. Night hunting and illegal guiding, unlicensed and on federal lands. 12 sentenced. There were eighty individuals cited on nearly 1,000 charges.

 

[mountainpass]

That's just the June 10th sentencing. Night hunting and illegal guiding, unlicensed and on federal lands. 12 sentenced. There were eighty individuals cited on nearly 1,000 charges.

From link in first post:

To date, hunters who have had jury trials have not been convicted. In one case in Graham County, agents could not produce video “evidence”. Enticements were made by prosecutors including an offer to drop some charges if the hunter involved would plead guilty. The hunter refused and requested a jury trial. In this case, all charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

 

[GeauxLSU]

From link in first post:

Well then they can all demand jury trials and walk free and this perceived 'injustice' is corrected huh?

“The majority of the group is close friends or acquaintances,” Kennedy said. “But they’re all connected in a loose way.”At least 10 bears were killed illegally by the poachers during the course of the four-year undercover investigation agents dubbed “Operation Something Bruin,” a pun that borrows from an old English name for a bear. Other bears were shot, but not necessarily killed while some were killed but not witnessed first-hand by undercover operatives.
Some bears were illegally shot at from automobiles and boats. Others were hunted at night, as were deer, with the aid of spotlights. Some were hunted by guided parties on public lands that lacked the proper authorization. And still others were illegally trapped and released for a planned hunt.
But the most common tactic was illegally baiting bears with food left in the woods, luring them to return to the same spot where they could eventually be shot, Kennedy said.
Poachers baited bears on public land, even in bear sanctuaries within the national forests that are off-limits to bear hunting. Bait ranged from chocolate waste products to peanut butter, bought by the ton and placed in five-gallon drums.
Once the bears’ behavior became easy to predict, the poachers could either wait and shoot them when they showed up to feed at the bait location or use the scent trail left by the bear to track it with hunting dogs, scare it into a tree and then shoot it, Kennedy said.

As an avid hunter my problem is I know too many people that call themselves hunters. I won't venture a guess as to how many openly admit to various game law violations in the first couple of minutes of meeting them. I also know some folks in WRD. If I was going to randomly hunt with one group or the other, the choice would be pretty easy.

 

[mountainpass]

Where is the evidence? 10 bears poached and only one person charged with that? Did he kill them all?