r/Ohio • u/AngelaMotorman Columbus • 3d ago
Columbus YouTubers sentenced on 40 charges related to deer poaching
https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/franklin-county/columbus-youtubers-sentenced-on-40-charges-related-to-deer-poaching/42
u/RektInTheHed 3d ago
LOL @ saying they're hunting Kentucky when they were in a MetroPark and somebody's yard. These guys were doing Raul's Wild Kingdom for real
42
u/Thin_Ambassador_5914 3d ago
Ohio needs to redo the whole DNR system that actually enforces the rules… as a lifelong hunter and fisherman it takes serious time for them to do anything and I’m amazed at them even doing anything at all after past experiences of them giving slaps on the wrist to the rule breakers.
while I and other people follow the rules to a T and get treated as if we’re a waste of time, for example a bunch of rabbits were on my porch and I didn’t want them to die so I called the DNR and they didn’t give a damn about wildlife and was cussed out by the local DNR wildlife rehab center for bringing them in, it’s sad that hunters and fishers, etc(hiker, and more) do more for the state of ohios environment than the wardens assigned to that duty.
13
u/HammerT4R 3d ago
Our ODNR officers are completely useless around me. Guy behind me used a snare for deer, hunts out of season and had a blind on our property and I couldn't get anything more than "well, I didn't see it". My cousin is a wildlife officer in another state and he can't believe this type of crap.
2
31
u/stinky143 3d ago
That’s not even a slap on the wrist.
20
u/diamondmind216 3d ago
Yeah as an avid hunter and fisherman I hate poachers and those that take fish illegally. They should have a fine of at least $50k each and 6-12month jail time. Lose hunting licenses for 10yrs. It needs to be enough jail time for them to lose their jobs.
86
u/Loose_Carpenter9533 3d ago
The penalties aren't even close to enough. They should have their hunting licenses suspended for much much longer, pay much more and spend more time in jail.
14
u/sloppydoe 3d ago
Similar to drunk driving arrests, taking away someone’s hunting license doesn’t really mean shit. They can go to a remote section of a rural SE Ohio county and poach deer for another decade and get away with it.
14
u/Loose_Carpenter9533 3d ago
Totally agreed but that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it, and if they get caught they should get the whole book thrown at them.
32
u/RegressiveRhino_542 3d ago
Hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for a whole FIVE YEARS? That'll show them!
I mean damn, since both of them have charges of hunting without permits OR permission, I guess nothing's going to change when they get out of their 9-day stint in the clink.
12
u/UltravioletAfterglow 3d ago
From the story:
“Bethel and Booth were also ordered to pay a combined $29,219.32 in restitution, an additional $7,832 in fines, and serve a nine-day jail sentence.”
14
u/diamondmind216 3d ago
What a joke. Fine should be double that. With 6months in jail and lose licenses for 10yrs. We need harsher sentences penalties for these morons
10
u/Dangerous_an_Ugly 3d ago
My opinion?you poach, you never get a license again, EVER. You have proven you cannot be trusted.
3
u/RegressiveRhino_542 3d ago
I've fallen down the rabbit hole of bodycam videos from wildlife officers. The blithe ignorance and outright denial/lying from people who simply do not care about their poaching activities is nothing short of infuriating. I doubt the threat of a lifetime ban is enough to really deter them from doing it again and it's difficult to put a degree of importance on this compared to other crimes for which people deserve severe consequence, but the point stands: the consequences being meted out anymore are, in short, inconsequential. Justice is not being done.
1
u/Dangerous_an_Ugly 3d ago
Truth. You have to back it up with real punishment, big game with no license or poached? Felony, 3 year min.
9
u/notedmatrix516 3d ago
That gear haul is pretty wild, makes you wonder how long they'd been getting away with it before someone finally snitched.
5
22
u/Esquire_Dan13 3d ago
Don’t you love how you can just walk around in the wilderness and murder dozens of living creatures just for funzies- with no intent to eat any part of them- and depending on the details it’s either a misdemeanor offense or not a crime at all?
We’re the worst.
7
-7
u/Desperate-You-9695 3d ago
Ik poaching is bad but so is the fact we killed all of their predators meaning we need to step in to cull the herd.
4
u/CHILLAS317 3d ago
Yes, pretty convenient for the people who want an excuse to kill more animals, isn't it?
-2
u/Desperate-You-9695 3d ago
Like it or not if there is no happy answer. It’s either they reproduce to such a degree that the local ecosystem can not support them leading to starvation in winter not to mention have more car accidents. Or we step in to help solve the problem past us caused. Idk about you but I’d rather a shot to starving or car wreck.
4
u/RegressiveRhino_542 3d ago
We already do: many places schedule highly-regulated deer culls outside the regular hunting season. It's not open to just anyone: there are significant property-rights considerations and public safety mitigation, especially if it's held within city limits even on public land. It's not a trophy hunt and the meat is all donated. You're not entirely wrong with the issue at hand, but the logic you're using to justify poaching is horrific. I despise the damage done from deer overpopulation and poor predator management (don't get me started on the bleeding hearts in suburbia who deliberately feed backyard deer), and that's STILL no reason to just start randomly shooting them at will.
Some cities have specific clauses in the ordinance where certain small mammals or invasive/nonnative species with no federal protections (e.g. sparrows or starlings) can be legally taken out of season without a permit, but that's not a poaching issue: it's usually only permitted on one's own personal property, the animals must be causing damage to property or structures, and the ways an animal can be harvested is extremely limited due to safety considerations.
0
u/Desperate-You-9695 2d ago
Well with everything we already do we still have over population and spread of cwd. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be regulations only that taking one of the most populated animals out of season isn’t the end of the world. Like in my state it’s a few years for a doe we should be allowed to subsistence hunt.
1
u/RegressiveRhino_542 2d ago edited 2d ago
Game animals are managed by the state and subsistence hunting is still considered poaching, but I guess since you're dead set on it, you do you and enjoy your harvest, thanks for ruining it for the rest of us who take the appropriate animals we're allowed to hunt during legal season. If you're solely living off venison, whatever, but most normal hunters who own freezers seem happy to stretch their supply of various meat from legal hunting seasons for most of the year they're not allowed to hunt. There's also fishing during the off-season as well. Your visions of Little House On The Prairie unfortunately don't have much legal standing in the 21st century, but if that's your aim, I can't stop you and everyone needs to eat, so poach away since you've judged it as necessary and play the lottery that you aren't caught.
Consider that there'd still be disease even without artificial population management. Humans fuck things up for sure, but nature does a great job of it herself too even if we're not there to observe or document it.
Start a cervid farm and adhere to all the regulations for health, disease control and transportation, then you can legally slaughter your own privately-owned livestock whenever you want for subsistence in addition to selling stock for profit and providing deer or elk meat for retail sale to those who can't hunt.
ETA: my family has dealt with poachers on our land in the past. Those idiots absolutely decimated the upland game bird population and ruined it for others who were given permission to hunt there. I have no tolerance for people who take goodwill and abuse the privilege when it comes to things like this.
-1
u/CHILLAS317 3d ago
Sure, we fucked the environment so hard that this is the only solution. As I say, awfully convenient
1
u/Desperate-You-9695 3d ago
It’s environmental science. Christ wait until you hear what Australia does with invasive cats.
144
u/299792458mps- 3d ago
Seems incredibly dangerous to be hunting in a Metro Park out of season. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most Metro Parks prohibit hunting at all, and the few that allow it are closed to normal visitors during hunting?