Feds target 60 hunters in Kansas hunting probe

AP ^ | 14 Sep 10 | ROXANA HEGEMAN

[SkyPilot]

WICHITA, Kan. (AP)—The Justice Department is targeting more than 60 hunters across the nation for allegedly poaching deer during guided hunts at Camp Lone Star in Kansas, a court document shows.

The scope of the grand jury investigation, believed to be one of the largest criminal prosecutions involving the illegal taking of deer, was made public in a court filing Monday in the federal government’s case against the camp’s owner and his brother, both of Martinsville, Texas.

James Bobby Butler Jr., 41, the owner and operator of the hunting club in Coldwater, Kan., and his brother Marlin Jackson Butler, 36, who worked as a guide, are charged with conspiracy and the unlawful sale and transport of wildlife. James Butler is also charged with obstruction of justice in the 23-count indictment filed May 25 in U.S. District Court in Wichita.

If convicted and given maximum sentences, they could face lengthy prison terms. Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas, said in an e-mail that it was the biggest case of its kind prosecuted in the state.

However, James Butler’s attorney Kurt Kerns calls the legal action “ridiculous.”

“The state of Kansas has paid out over $100,000 to independent contractors to thin the Kansas deer herd for management purposes,” Kerns said in an e-mail. “And now our tax money is being spent making federal cases out of alleged rednecks who supposedly harvest an extra deer.”

Statistics compiled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show the nation has 10.3 million big game hunters. About 12 percent, or 1.3 million people, hunt outside of their state of residence. Kansas is a popular destination, drawing an estimated 88,000 out-of-state hunters each year.

[SkyPilot]

The Federal Government will go after hunters who shoot an "extra deer," but they won't do anything about 20 Million Illegal Aliens in our nation, nor will they secure the borders. In fact, they sue the one state that tried to pass a reasonable law to at least find out who was in the country illegally.

Obama sent a grand total of thirty troops to Arizona after it pleaded for help.

The Feds will put you in prison for up to 8 years for selling lobsters that are too small, but won't do ANYTHING about illegal aliens.

Jailing the Innocent by Paul Craig Roberts

The headline on Drudge is that Harry Reid is attaching amnesty to the Defense Bill (a bill that usually passes with bipartisan support). The Dems have also passed the sodomy bill to the Defense Bill. These people are shameless.

Reid adds controversial immigration measure to defense bill

We prosecute the innocent, and give money to the guilty.

We are a nation under God's curse. Only prayer and His grace will bring us back from the brink of disaster we find ourselves in.

"When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive." - Proverbs 28:28

____________________________________________________________________

"When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan." - Proverbs 29:2

[taxtruth]

The American people are the prey/hunted.

[taxtruth]

The American people are the prey/hunted.

[agrarianlady]

We’re turning into England. The peasants are pissing off the landlords.

We have to damn many deer here in Virginia. They’re destroying property and taking lives on the highway.

[SkyPilot]

It is so true. This is from the article I linked by Roberts:

Naïve Americans tend to regard miscarriages of justice, such as the lobster import case, as rare examples of legal idiocy that somehow will be corrected by the legal system. However, such cases are routine and are seldom if ever corrected. In America today law enforcement boils down to the exercise of power by unaccountable prosecutors. Justice is not served by ensnaring the innocent. Married men who happen to own guns are being turned into felons by wives who ask for restraining orders when they file for divorce. Prosecutors interpret restraining orders as criminalizing prior gun ownership. A restraining order turns a law-abiding gun owner into a criminal. It is an example of unconstitutional ex post facto law at its worst. Americans are uninformed about the tyrannical nature of their criminal justice system. Until they become personally ensnared in the system, Americans believe that police and prosecutors would never convict an innocent person. Once they experience the system, Americans are terrified by the system’s indifference to whether a defendant has committed a crime.

[hans56]

Don’t you realize, these are the kings deer

[Doogle]

..MEANWHILE.... a billion to Mexico....60 billion worth of arms sold to the Saudi’s, and the new threat of government going after your 401k’s and IRA’S

[RightGeek]

How can this possibly be a Federal crime?

[skr]

Will the Feds give the hunters a break if they give the venison to the illegals?

Are we running out of deer? Last I heard, we had too many.

[Ben Ficklin]

After they paid the $5000 to the lodge, the hunters probably didn't have enough money left to buy an out of state license.

[Ben Ficklin]

"How can this possibly be a federal crime"

Did you read the article?

[Rebelbase]

I had a doe and fawn browse through my backyard about 3 hours ago.

[TigersEye]

Because there just aren't enough deer in Kansas. /s

Deer/auto accidents peak on Nov. 17

“An inordinately high deer population also makes deer/vehicle accidents more likely,” said Lloyd Fox, big game program coordinator for Kansas Wildlife & Parks. “The number of deer in Kansas fluctuates from between 350,000 to 400,000.”

According to KDOT, Kansans today are seven times more likely to collide with a deer while driving than in 1980. In 2001, 10,184 deer-vehicle accidents occurred in the state, or 13 percent of the total vehicle accidents reported. While no fatalities resulted, 418 persons were injured. There were only 1,395 deer/auto crashes in 1980.

The increase in crashes involving deer in Kansas mirrors a nationwide trend. Last year, there were about 1.5 million deer-automobile collisions in the U.S. More than 29,000 people were injured and 200 died. Property damage topped $1 billion.

[Cheetahcat]

This is complete and utter BS they need to do their damn jobs and Keep us free of Invaders!

[WVNan]

Oh my. I would like to invite all illegal hunters to West Virginia.. We have more than our share of deer. Blasted rats with antlers.....

[West Texas Chuck]

Yowza, my friends in Arkansas tell me it will be a bumper crop. No poachers. My pals are honest landowning deer slayers. They say the deer are thick and can’t wait until season starts.

[SkyPilot]

The Feds actually have no power under the Constitution to get into these situations, but they have that "Magic Button" they keep pushing every time.

Interstate Commerce Clause

"The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes".

So there you have it. They can do ANYTHING because, well, it would affect commerce.

[dsutah]

Your post reminded me of when my Uncle was still alive and lived in Colorado Springs, CO. He was in a wheel-chair by then, his wife had died, he was elderly, and he’d get lonely sometime. He still lived in the house he and his wife raised their kids in.

Where he lived, it was still a little bit rural, with a few old homes around. Some little deer would come into his yard at times. He would sit in his back-yard and feed them! They never really bothered him much, and he loved to have them there, as long as they didn’t get too numerous, and cause problems.

The animal control came around and told him not to feed them anymore! This bummed him out, but he tried to understand. I don’t know if they were bothering the neighbors, and one of them told on him, I don’t know. He was sad about it, but complied.

That made me sad too. When he was a bit younger, he would go deer hunting and fishing, etc.. I think he still would’ve if he could. Since he couldn’t, he would feed the little ones and the mothers instead, it gave him comfort.

[pepperdog]

Our government paid $100,000 to contractors to shoot deer? That was OUR money! And now they persecute private hunters for shooting deer. All they needed to do was raise the limit on deer and it wouldn't have cost the govt. a cent. When is the insanity going to stop?

[chilltherats]

So true.

It’s time to do something serious about it.