Sentences handed out in wanton waste case

[willphish4food]

http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/coast-...-case/29840578

Knowing the source, there is likely more to the story. Interesting to see if the ducks had been breasted out, and most of the meat removed from the deer. If it happened like reported, 5 cases of wanton waste received an extremely lenient sentence!

[Matt]

No more than a slap on the wrist for these guys. What a joke! Deer meat is some of the best out there and I would love to have some right now.

[iofthetaiga]

If it happened like reported, 5 cases of wanton waste received an extremely lenient sentence!

Original story: http://juneauempire.com/local/2014-1...e#.VG-BRoeFWM4

Followup story: http://juneauempire.com/local/2014-1...s#.VG-Ax4eFWM6

No more than a slap on the wrist for these guys.

[AlaskaHippie]

And they where/are Officers to boot?


The DA dropped the ball on this one, big time. The investigating Troopers recommended criminal charges, and instead the DA opted for the lesser violations....And fined them a paltry sum. Top that off with the CG likely not pursuing anything more than a stern lecture....

....And these guys are charged with patrolling our waters and protecting US???


"We didn't know the law" was their defense.....Nice precedent, officers.

[Tearbear]

As for those guys knowing, or not knowing our game regulations...Is there ANY State that allows wanton waste? I doubt it.

[AlaskaHippie]

And the list just grows and grows.


#TundraTrucks

[iofthetaiga]

And the list just grows and grows.


#TundraTrucks

#cultureofdisrespect

[AlaskaHippie]

#cultureofdisrespect

#entitlement

[Frostbitten]

Typical. So these guys knew enough about the rules that they needed to buy NR licenses and tags but they didn't know it's illegal to kill a deer only to cut off it's antlers and throw the carcass by the side of the road?

[AlaskaHippie]

Typical. So these guys knew enough about the rules that they needed to buy NR licenses and tags but they didn't know it's illegal to kill a deer only to cut off it's antlers and throw the carcass by the side of the road?

...And we pay their salaries......

[mike h]

Those are super low sanctions for those offenses. Usually there would at least be restitution to the state (set by schedule), possible forfeiture of weapons, loss of hunting and/or fishing privileges for an amount of time. I wonder if the reporter didn't grasp the full sentence or if they really were that low.

[Frostbitten]

...And we pay their salaries......

Roger. It's too bad that their bosses wont take steps to rectify that!!

[Larry Bartlett]

Hey guys, I'm a huge advocate for meat care and consider myself sensitive to potential hunter violations concerning salvage and preservation. That said, I would consider the terminology the report uses to clarify the charges filed against these two soldiers.

The differences between "failure to salvage" and "wanton waste" are pretty significant, although many people use the term wanton waste more often to mean both violations...they're not the same, nor do they carry the same legal weight in retribution or conviction.

Failure to Salvage Edible Meat is the lessor of the two violations. It means that the hunters attempted to salvage the meat but left enough behind to warrant a legal penalty, which is subjective and handled differently depending on the citing officer. I've seen Failure to Salvage citations handed out to hunters who left 3-5% of edible meat on a moose carcass (20-30 lbs respectively), and some cases involve much more than 5% potential yield from a big game animal.

Wanton Waste is more egregious by law. Cases where hunters are cited for wanton waste typically involve hunters obviously having no intentions of salvaging meat of the big game animal (such as taking the horns and leaving the animal to waste). Alaska court systems usually hand out stiff penalties for wanton waste violations, whereas failure to salvage edible meat citations may often seem like a slap on the wrist to sensitive observers like many of us.

Just thought I'd throw that out there for curious hunters. I wouldn't bash these soldiers and suggest that they aren't fit for duty. Oftentimes Failure to Salvage can be corrected through better education, and mild retribution might turn around future field behavior. People who commit Wanton Waste are just focused on trophy parts or shooting ops, and these hunters should be treated more stiffly than others.

larry

[BIGAKSTUFF]

And they where/are Officers to boot?


The DA dropped the ball on this one, big time. The investigating Troopers recommended criminal charges, and instead the DA opted for the lesser violations....And fined them a paltry sum. Top that off with the CG likely not pursuing anything more than a stern lecture....

....And these guys are charged with patrolling our waters and protecting US???


"We didn't know the law" was their defense.....Nice precedent, officers.

No, not officers, but somewhat junior enlisted. A petty officer second class is an E-5, I'm sure the CG will have thier way with them now that the case is over in civilian courts.

[iofthetaiga]

Hey guys, I'm a huge advocate for meat care and consider myself sensitive to potential hunter violations concerning salvage and preservation. That said, I would consider the terminology the report uses to clarify the charges filed against these two soldiers.

The differences between "failure to salvage" and "wanton waste" are pretty significant, although many people use the term wanton waste more often to mean both violations...they're not the same, nor do they carry the same legal weight in retribution or conviction.

Failure to Salvage Edible Meat is the lessor of the two violations. It means that the hunters attempted to salvage the meat but left enough behind to warrant a legal penalty, which is subjective and handled differently depending on the citing officer. I've seen Failure to Salvage citations handed out to hunters who left 3-5% of edible meat on a moose carcass (20-30 lbs respectively), and some cases involve much more than 5% potential yield from a big game animal.

Wanton Waste is more egregious by law. Cases where hunters are cited for wanton waste typically involve hunters obviously having no intentions of salvaging meat of the big game animal (such as taking the horns and leaving the animal to waste). Alaska court systems usually hand out stiff penalties for wanton waste violations, whereas failure to salvage edible meat citations may often seem like a slap on the wrist to sensitive observers like many of us.

Just thought I'd throw that out there for curious hunters. I wouldn't bash these soldiers and suggest that they aren't fit for duty. Oftentimes Failure to Salvage can be corrected through better education, and mild retribution might turn around future field behavior. People who commit Wanton Waste are just focused on trophy parts or shooting ops, and these hunters should be treated more stiffly than others.

larry

By all accounts it sounds like the crime actually warranted a charge of "wanton waste". They were however only originally charged with "failure to salvage". That lesser charge was then knocked down to a slap on the wrist because the DA "didn't want to saddle them" with a criminal history. Clearly, they received preferential treatment.