Hunter Accused of Poaching to sue

[Sasquatch]

A North Carolina man was accused of illegally killing two bucks in West Virginia. WV officers accompanied by their NC counterparts showed up at the man's house, questioned him, and ultimately seized the antlers. They also put out a damning press release. ( see link )

The problem was, the officers had no court order or warrant, and apparently no evidence, just "tips from locals." The press release was it's own disaster.

The hunter recovered his antlers and is now filing a lawsuit.

Thoughts?





Press release

[firstwd]

Sounds like some accountability needs to happen.

[Ahawkeye]

I'm a big backer of law enforcement but if they were wrong then he needs to be compensated accordingly. How much that is worth, I don't know.

[beermaker]

Nov 27, 2022 18:25:17 GMT -5 firstwd said:

Sounds like some accountability needs to happen.

Yes, and those who provided the false information need to be charged as well.

[genesis273]

Wow! That is a terrible thing to have to go through. I would have liked to have heard more about this alleged "DNA" . Sounds like the civil rights lol awyer does it too. It'll be interesting to see if his FOIA request ever gets answered.

[jjas]

It appears this will all end up in civil court if the hunter's attorney fails to gain a monetary settlement for his client. I would also think they will ask for a public apology to boot.

Will he get that?

Time will tell, but I have a feeling that if he does, it will be done as quietly as possible.

[stevein]

Part of the problem is the capes were beyond using for the mounts. I would think a decent taxidermist could find some.

I am 50/50. I think most wardens are good guys. But I have met a couple of real buttholes.

I had some questions about the tag being expired so he bought a new one the same day he killed the WV deer. He either had a valid tag or did not.

[Sasquatch]

Nov 28, 2022 13:29:05 GMT -5 stevein said:

Part of the problem is the capes were beyond using for the mounts. I would think a decent taxidermist could find some.

I am 50/50. I think most wardens are good guys. But I have met a couple of real buttholes.

I had some questions about the tag being expired so he bought a new one the same day he killed the WV deer. He either had a valid tag or did not.

I caught that too. (though surely if he had bought his tag after the fact they would have nailed him). I took it to mean he was going to hunt in WV and bought his tag the same day he killed the deer, and was explaining it to the non-hunting lawyer.

Another thing I had questions about was the C.O.'s supposedly knew one of the deer was killed with a crossbow and not a regular bow. I'd like to know--in the absence of video, or the bloody the bolt or arrow-- just how that is possible.

I'm 100% for supporting any law enforcement when the case is legit. In this case I think someone's superior must have been asleep at the switch or they would have never pursued this. Stuff like this just hurts the cause.

[stevein]

Nov 28, 2022 13:52:20 GMT -5 Sasquatch said:

Nov 28, 2022 13:29:05 GMT -5 stevein said:

Part of the problem is the capes were beyond using for the mounts. I would think a decent taxidermist could find some.

I am 50/50. I think most wardens are good guys. But I have met a couple of real buttholes.

I had some questions about the tag being expired so he bought a new one the same day he killed the WV deer. He either had a valid tag or did not.

I caught that too. (though surely if he had bought his tag after the fact they would have nailed him). I took it to mean he was going to hunt in WV and bought his tag the same day he killed the deer, and was explaining it to the non-hunting lawyer.

Another thing I had questions about was the C.O.'s supposedly knew one of the deer was killed with a crossbow and not a regular bow. I'd like to know--in the absence of video, or the bloody the bolt or arrow-- just how that is possible.

I'm 100% for supporting any law enforcement when the case is legit. In this case I think someone's superior must have been asleep at the switch or they would have never pursued this. Stuff like this just hurts the cause.

And I agree about the support.

However the lawyer kept pushing the fact WV had raised the penalty for poaching a deer. He was also painting all of the WV COs with a pretty broad brush.

[genesis273]

Nov 28, 2022 14:14:11 GMT -5 stevein said:

Nov 28, 2022 13:52:20 GMT -5 Sasquatch said:

I caught that too. (though surely if he had bought his tag after the fact they would have nailed him). I took it to mean he was going to hunt in WV and bought his tag the same day he killed the deer, and was explaining it to the non-hunting lawyer.

Another thing I had questions about was the C.O.'s supposedly knew one of the deer was killed with a crossbow and not a regular bow. I'd like to know--in the absence of video, or the bloody the bolt or arrow-- just how that is possible.

I'm 100% for supporting any law enforcement when the case is legit. In this case I think someone's superior must have been asleep at the switch or they would have never pursued this. Stuff like this just hurts the cause.

And I agree about the support.

However the lawyer kept pushing the fact WV had raised the penalty for poaching a deer. He was also painting all of the WV COs with a pretty broad brush.

I think he was planting the seed that since they raised the penalty for poaching, they themselves should expect to pay more for the foul on their end.