Poacher sentenced

A Chippewa County man is losing his hunting privileges for life for poaching wolves and bald eagles.

Kurt Duncan faced 125 wildlife crimes for poaching numerous animals, including 18 gray wolves.

He was sentenced in Chippewa County under a plea agreement and will serve 90 days in jail, as well as 18 to 24 months on probation.

Duncan was charged with three counts of illegal possession of wolves and bald eagles, as well as one count of illegal commercialization of a wolf.

Duncan also lost hunting privileges in 48 states and must also hand over all firearms and snares.

Was this stiff enough for this guy? No fines mentioned in news release.

NO.

I don't like poached eagles,,I like them baked.

I thought some people were saying wolves were a problem and now they hate this guy for doing something about it. I think the punishment is good, heck he lost his guns thats worse then any jail time or fine.

No, what would be worse if the fine was so large that he had to sell his guns to pay his fine.

too stiff. wolves and eagles both need thinned out. need to change the regs on them

It doesn't matter what we think of wolves or eagles.

The law is the law and the law says we can't kill them. Simple.

Please let me know if I need to dumb this down further.

Eagles are national birds he should have been sent to federal prison

Is there a legal defense fund set up for him so we can donate??

He should be moving to those other two states. It'll ruin his life as he knows it where he's at now. Learn his lesson, pay his debt, and start a new in a new location.

It's not the idea that there are to many, it's the idea of doing it at all that needs to be corrected !

If the sentence is not stiff enough to make others think about their loss it just keeps happening. Just look at Chicago with their murder rate, its in orbit, because these miscreants know nothing will happen to them !!

Same with poachers it's difficult as get out to track them down with out any witness's let alone make them cry for doing it, but take away everything that was involved doing it then others may think twice about giving it a go !!

Still cant b any good all they eat is roadkill around here. Nuttin but a white headed buzzard!

Let the landowners decide the punishment. They're who feeds them. The State claims ownership of all the deer here, gets all the license fees, all the fines, yet the private landowners provide food and shelter. Do they get reimbursed for crop damage? Heck no. It's not right.

What about the black eyes it gives law abiding hunters and trappers? This isn't just an err in judgement, 125 game law violations, that is a whole butt load of judgement errs

I don't think a poacher should be housed with rapists and murderers. He killed some animals. Do you want our taxes to pay for a long term jail sentence?

On the other hand, I wouldn't want him living around where I live.

Lousy poacher getting caught like that.

What this guy got caught doing has absolutely nothing to do with legal hunters and trappers. Wolves, even if only because of an AR lawsuit, are back on the Federal Endangered list in our area. This dipstick wasn't doing any of us any favors with his wink-at-the-law horse crap. It will be used against us all. I hope they scare the living stuff out of anyone thinking about doing the same thing. As for him moving to one of the only two states that aren't part of the Wildlife Violator Compact....good riddance, hope he enjoys Massachusetts or Hawaii. We law abiding Michigan sportsmen will not miss him.

I think its crap for him to lose his rights to have firearms..............not sayin its right what he did.................

They didn't actually say that, just that they confiscated the guns he had, but it looks like it could be felony charges and if so, your assumption would be correct.

Does he have a "go fundme page"? Asking for a friend.

Sentence looks good to me, hope folks understand he is a criminal and not a sportsman or hunter.

We're the wolves actually wolves or did they have mixed DNA. Because he pled out i guess we'll never know.

Update on this case from the 7 and 4 news, a little more info:

CHIPPEWA COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- A Chippewa County man accused of poaching numerous animals, including 18 gray wolves, has lost his hunting privileges for life after a poaching investigation.

Kurt Johnston Duncan, 56 of Pickford, pleaded guilty to seven poaching crimes in September.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to the following:

Pay $36,240 total
Lifetime revocation of all hunting and trapping privileges in Michigan; including that he may not assist anyone else in any hunting or trapping activities. With this privilege revoked, he will not be allowed to hunt in 48 states that are members of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact.
90 days of jail time; 30 of which will be held in aside should he violate probation.
18-24 months probation.
Forfeiture of all items and evidence seized by the DNR during the execution of search warrants, including, firearms and snares.
According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Duncan committed numerous wildlife crimes of various species, including wolves, bald eagles, deer, turkey and bobcat within an 18 month time period.

You guys don't get it it is just another thing the antis get to use against us. And trust me they will. A law is a law don't like it vote to change it don't support a crook or they will say we are all that way.

what does killing animals have to do with being a crook?

im guessing he made money off them. money for wildlife is what the heads of wildlife departments really hate. unless it is them getting it.

Eagles are just buzzards in tuxedos. Beautiful birds with really nasty feeding habits.

king of england hanged poachers. all game belonged to the king. somehow we have returned to that philosophy

^^ I completely agree with Danny on this issue. Good posts Mr. Clifton!

Doesn't breaking the law make you a crook? Or are we at a point where we pick and choose what laws pertain to that?

A crook is someone who steals.

If you are forced to go to south central LA are you going to be armed? That is against the law. Will you be a “crook”?

He most likely didn't pay for a license to take bobcat, deer and turkeys so yes, he is a crook. He stole those animals from us, the legal hunters and trappers who wait most of a year to harvest them legally. Plus he stole the pleasure of many by killing the eagles and wolves that many people enjoy seeing.

I agree, tend to think of a "crook" as someone who fleeces others.

I agree

No telling how many years he went without being caught. Being legal obviously wasn't important to him to begin with I would think it would be less so after the convection. Probably just teach him to be more cautious and less cocky. Few people ever really change. Moving would be smart.

Ask a rancher in SD what kind of a pleasure Bald Eagles are.

X2

There are poachers most everywhere.Poaching,like some other criminal behaviours tends to run in families in this area.Infact there is one family name here that is connected to poachers.Anyone with that last name whether a poacher or not is automatically assumed by the public to be a poacher just because of their last name,lol.Probably the same elsewhere.
The ones I know of would rarely ever be in danger of being caught.Many are already known to the authorities but difficult,or near impossible to catch because of the way they operate.
There is a big difference in my opinion between those career poachers and someone who inadvertently breaks some obscure law that they may not have even been aware of.

It amazes me how easily people are brainwashed. I am surprised what lengths humans will go to in order to be part of a herd

Chickens will all gang up on another chicken peck it to death and eat it.

Humans are a lot like that

My opinion depends on why he was killing them and what he was doing with them.