For those wondering how the Wisconsin elk hunt has been going...

https://www.outdoornews.com/2018/10/26/h...shot-illegally/

The shooter apparently didn't think it was illegal to shoot the elk from the gravel road, and the "guide" bought his guide permits only days before the season started. Both attended the required elk information class prior to the hunt where regulations were covered, including information on road hunting.

Didn't think I'd hear about on of the non-natives causing a stir with the elk harvest. Not good when 20% of the tag winners get cited!

Is that like going 60 in a 55 ?

A little more expensive, and more publicized. He's facing around $2,400 in fines, plus the cost of caping and processing. The meat will likely be donated to a food pantry.

Road hunters suck.

The guy that bought the raffle tag was the accused party, more money than sense.

He won the raffle tag from RMEF, I didn't see anywhere how many tickets he bought. This wasn't an auction item or anything like that, RMEF was selling tickets at $10 each, any WI resident could by as many tickets as they wanted.

ahhh, my bad, I confused auction and raffle.

Gotta love them trophies

There were only 10 elk hunters in Wisconsin and one of them got popped for shooting from the road? hahaha.

Did they catch him doing it I wonder or did he just ignorantly tell them the story checking it or something?

Sad, but kinda funny when you think about it really.

The full story in the newspaper said that he was required to notify the local biologist after the harvest, who noticed the elk and the gut pile in the ditch and notified the warden. When questioned, he was apparently pretty forthcoming with the info.

I guess the phrase "fair chase" eluded this guy...
He's not an elk hunter - he's an elk killer. Big diff...

I hate road hunters, around here if you hunt next to a road you will see the same trucks come by 20 times a day. There's about 25 fat arses that are to sorry to get out and actually hunt so they just ride around shooting deer on other people's property. Wish they would catch them all

Just because he shot It off the road doesn't mean he didn't sneack down the road on foot and kill that elk. I killed a few critters walking down the road and I considered It fair chase. It's not like he shot It from the truck.
I think the biologist was a dick.

Seems like a rather minor infraction. It amazes me how quick hunters are to condemn other hunters and condone ridiculous fines and punishments. $2400 fine for shooting an animal from a gravel road? If that was the only violation and you think the punishment is reasonable you might as well join PETA and help your fellow anti-hunters.

No Beav...The 3 of them. Guide,hunter and friend. Pulled the animal into the woods. The warden or biologist DNR saw the scene and it didn't match their story. All 3 or at least the Guide and shooter were in cahoots to cover up the original shooting and kill area...to deceive

The entire Wisconsin herd in that area is as dumb as a box of rocks, they are used to people stopping and taking their pictures etc. It was never going to be much of a "hunt", not to take away from the guys who did it.

I don't think there was any sneaking down the road involved. The story in the paper had much more detail than the link I provided, but it said they were driving down the road and a cow and calf crossed in front of them on the road, followed by the bull. The "guide" stopped the truck and the shooter got out and opened fire.

He's charged with shooting across a road in violation of State Statute 167, which carries a penalty of $217.90. He's also charged with hunting within 50 feet of the road center, which carries a penalty of $222.90. The $2,000 is a restitution charge for illegally killing an elk.

Not sure how anyone can condone this type of behavior, let alone compare someone to PETA for wishing they'd throw the book at this guy. Who cares how they found out, if he broke the laws, he should pay the fine and lose the animal, along with hunting privileges revoked for a few years.

^^^Agreed^^^ I would think his “guide”’and friend should also be citied for part as well. Obviously they had to of helped the hunter drag the illegally taken elk from the roadway. And more than likely, knowingly withheld information from the law.

These guys are slobs. They killed an elk, but they weren't hunting when they did it. They knew they were breaking the law.

If you get caught speeding, which actually endangers lives, should you lose you car?

I think he should pay the fines for the statutes he violated. The restitution is complete BS. He had a valid tag for the area he was hunting and killed it during legal shooting time with a legal weapon.

He made a mistake and should have to pay for it. Some of y’all act like he is the scum of the earth.

My goodness there are some self-righteous yuppies in here. I’m not a road hunter, meaning I do most of my hunting far off the road. But if I have the option of killing meat closer to the truck and saving some pack distance, you bet I’ll take it. We have road hunting laws here too, but ours only refers to the driveable surface, no setback distance. What that means is that if I see a legal bull on my way to hunting, or work, or the store, I get out of the truck, step in the ditch, wait for the bull to clear the road, and drop him. And thank God for the blessing of easy meat.

So tell me, you holy judges of “fair chase”: if a guy is on his way to go hunting and a legal bull/buck crosses the road in a legal area, what would be the procedure to meet your standards of “fair chase”? Give the buck a certain head start? Close your eyes and count to 10? Or would you simply keep driving and go somewhere else you could walk a certain distance before seeing game, so that would make it “fair chase?” Does game have to be spotted from foot to make it “fair chase”? What if I see one out the kitchen window? Do I have to give him a head start too?

Once upon a time, before liberal idealism started getting into hunting, if game came to you it was considered a blessing. The guy’s crime was either not knowing the law or getting excited and shooting before it got off the road, and he should pay the fines for that. “Restitution” in a negligent game hunting case is a crock of bull.

I didn't see anyone saying he should lose his gun or vehicle or anything like that, just pay his fines and get some time off to think about. Get caught speeding, pay a fine. Speeding in a school zone, bigger fine. Speeding in a school zone and crush a mailbox, pay your fines and replace the mailbox.

What if he was a trapper and trapping illegally, say out of season? Let's say he caught a truckload of rats the week before the season started, should he just pay a fine for trapping out of season, or should he be responsible to compensate the state and every public landowner (all of us) for illegally harvesting that resource. He was just going to trap them all a week later anyway, he just decided to get started early.

Shooting deer on private property , Gee I guess they should be the only ones hunting those chosen few that own all the best property . That's not really hunting either when you have 12000 -or more acres to yourself

I dont think he should have to pay every one back for the resource, that just stupid. I also think every time someone breaks a game law it hurts the look of other hunters and trappers but it hurt it a lot more when It gets posted all over the internet for every one to see. People have been poaching ever since there was laws instated and there will be poaching long after hunting is no longer allowed. I think maken stuff like this public is quite dumb the guy broke the law it isn't any of my business what happens.

It won't be called poaching when hunting Is outlawed. It will be called killing to feed ones family.

That's what I thought it was called now. I just think there is a big diffence in killing a elk standing on a road and taking the meat then killing 10 elk and taking the heads and leaving the rest there.

The guy screwed up. He also needs better hunting partners.

Not a good way to end the story of being the winner of the raffle and also free processing. With all that hype one would think that one's guard would be up and better judgement would prevail.

Bryce

The goal was to kill an elk as was allowed by the game commission . In fact , I'm sure they expected all of the few tags given to be punched. 100% success if you will

So if the dude stepped off the road would his elk be any less dead ?

It was part of their management objective wasn't it ? For the elk to be killed

I'm surprised at how many people are don't seem to care this guy broke multiple hunting regulations. To each their own I guess. Or if they think the rules are dumb, they're ok to break.

Yes we have to defend these anti law groups to protect our rights to hunt. Sometimes it is difficult to know who the antis really are.

Bryce

No one so far has said he shouldn’t pay the fines. Maybe you didn’t read the details. He’s being charged $440.80 in fines, for shooting from the road. And $2000 in “restitution.” That’s the part we’re arguing against. What’s the point of restitution in a game violation case? Does it go to the other hunters or the public, no. Can they buy another elk with it? No. It simply goes into the state coffers.
Imagine if a cop could pull you over for speeding, give you the standard ticket, and then say “I’m adding $2000 in restitution to the state because I decided to.”
The fine schedule is on the books because it was determined to be appropriate punishment for the crimes. Allowing state officials to arbitrarily add any “restitution” charge at will is a dangerous precedent.

The restitution is added to further deter the behavior, and is different for different animals. Mostly because the fish and game laws are weak and barely a slap on the wrist for some violations.

I can't wrap my head around trappers and outdoorsmen who don't want stiffer penalties for game violations. It gives us all a black eye, whether it's our business or not that we know what he did.

I believe Wisconsin has a restitution schedule set up for whitetails that is directly related to the size of the rack in order to deter poaching. The bigger the buck, the bigger the restitution.

I personally don't feel like $440 is enough of a fine for shooting an elk from a road, but the added $2,000 makes it sting a bit more, and maybe the publicity will make the next road hunter think twice, although with the limited elk tags we have, it will likely be a whitetail hunter and thebredtitution isn't quite as high.

Ya throw the book at him and blow it up.

Maybe then we can give Elk back to the Wolves. Obviously people aren’t responsible enough.

What this guy did was illegal and should not be excused. On the other hand, acting like he shot it from Interstate 94 is a little over the top. Most Forest Roads up here haven't been regraveled in 20 years and are little more than 1 lane 2 track logging roads with a sign.

The restitution is because the animal(s) are wards of the state. Hence the term “game wardens”. Meaning that they belong to all of us. So by illegally taking of the game animal, is considered stealing from all. Whether a hunter or photographer or whoever.

I just heard that terminology used on North Woods Law.

If you shoot a deer illegally do you have to make restitution to the state?

Here is the list of what they call the Wild Animal Protection Surcharge from the bond book.

I can’t believe it’s only $87 for a wolf. Figured that to be much more. Or even ducks and geese. They would all fall under federal laws.

Wolf would probably add the 875 listed for the endangered.

Thanks tlguy makes it pretty clear there. Guess that didn't tack on any more than is allowed or required by law. I can't see how anyone condones the actions taken by the hunter but I can see how things like this can happen on an almost unposted road. It does seem like he or they knew or realized what they did was against the law and regulations by the action taken after the kill and not being forthcoming with the biologist. May have hoped their honest mistake was not discovered or may have known all along it was wrong. I don't know and don't think anybody on here does either but it was illegal and punishment is/was set before the incident and I feel it was appropriate. Just my .02

I agree. Other than it was far from an “honest mistake”

Beav, I agree with you here. Was it a dirt or gravel road in a remote spot? No one knows the exact circumstance. The old adage of "casting the first stone" applies here, everyone of us has made dumb mistakes. I'd like to think that people on here understand that vilifying a hunter is what the anti's want.

Here's a quote from the full article.

"Information relayed to Wisconsin Outdoor News has a cow and two calves, followed by a small bull, crossing FR 174, with Sparhawk (guide/driver) stopping the truck so the elk could clear the road. They were followed by the larger bull. According to the sources, Wiltzius then stepped out of Sparhawk's truck, loaded his rifle and shot the bull."

Forest Road 174 isn't paved, but it looks to be a well maintained gravel road from the aerial view on google maps. Far from a 1 lane 2-track logging road. There's no guessing that, you can see for yourself on the map.

Whether the guy got caught up in the pursuit and forgot you can't shoot from the road or chose to shoot the bull from the road despite the regulations, the result is the same, broken game laws.

Bottom line is, if he had shot a deer, this wouldn't be news. Happens every year in Wisconsin and all over the place. Some places it might even be legal, but not here. The added scrutiny of it being the inaugural elk hunt, a success story in reintroduction if you're into that sort of thing, means it's in the papers and now we're discussing it online. I'm not trying to vilify the guy, I don't know him so I won't form an opinion on what kinda character he is. I just think if he broke the law as alleged, he should pay the price.

There were only three witnesses, The only way they get convicted is by narcing on each other. I think I know what Red Foreman would call these guys.

Stupid comes to mind.

Just think a minute please. Regardless of how you feel about the actual unlawful action. Keep in mind was the act intentional,reckless and or negligent. That is the basic for most criminal charges. Over $2000.00 in fines for shooting a elk off a dirt road assisted by a "guide" really you we as hunter trappers etc alow this to happen. One more way of taking your rights from you using the same system that was supposed to protect us from the rich government. Think again if this same person walked into a inner-city conference store with a stolen gun fired it into the store robed the clerk led the police in a chase and was caught. The very first thing that would happen his court appointed attorney would say he has a drug problem or mental health problems. He the would then receive TREATMENT for said problem. Sealed records and No one would remember his name. He hurt no one, he endangered no one, he broke the law with assistance of someone who should have never allowed this to happen to begin with. Justice to fit the crime. Wildlife laws in my opinion are out of control. If he'd been drunk driving and hit and killed the same elk on the same road 500.00 dollar fine. Just think about it. Retired from law enforcement.

Interesting to see that Beaver and Wolf have the same price tag.

The public suffers loss of opportunity every time the game commission missmanages the pubic resource.(overharvest comes to mind.) Who pays the restitution then ?

Why dosen't the driver that kills a deer with his or her car not have to pay restitution? The DNR coffers would be fat If that was law.

Because I would sue the government for not keeping those animals off the road.

People who run down deer on purpose have been ordered to pay restitution for those animals.

There is a little difference between accidental and intentional.

Accidental my eye

Many state agencies including fish and wildlife agencies make pizzz poor decisions that prove to be detrimental to wildlife .

Poor decisions usually derive from poor accountability

Who pays restitution then ?

The "guide" should be held accountable for his client actions. The client may not have known the law but the "guide " should have or can anyone in Wisconsin call themselves a guide and charge for there services? He broke the law and should be held accountable and the person collect a pay check helping him brake the law should be fined also. Perhaps these called "Guide" needs to pay the restitution.

I get a kick out of all you rock throwers. Not one of you Is as pure as driven snow.
Get a life.

Hey! I resemble that remark.

Just follow the Laws or work to get them altered. Otherwise get off the road for MANY good reasons. It's not like we all don't know that! Good Grief!

On a different note, looks like another fellow was successful.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/spor...eFQet1zguPe-ZlaH-GaHteum0JtgMaUfZq9fLHAw

For those kids reading this and wondering how some folks get all the breaks in life, start following this man's example. You will quickly find yourself getting all the breaks!

Thanks for sharing, I feel like that's a much better representation of Northern Wisconsin hospitality and good old sportsmanship and ethics.

Unfortunately this story won’t get near the attention

Sounds like a few others were successful....and did it the right way.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/spor...MD2N4U784EXB1t_qaTnskNea9V1IGgXNZr_SFPf0