MT Sheep Hunter Fined

Idahoan in Idaho

A Nampa man will spend six months in jail and pay thousands in restitution for poaching a California bighorn sheep in Owyhee County earlier this year.

Jake B. Fouts, 21, must pay more than $2,900 in court costs, civil penalties and restitution and, under work release stipulations, spend 180 nights in the Murphy jail. The felony conviction, handed down by District Judge Gregory Culet, also included a lifetime hunting privilege revocation, five years probation and the suspension of Fouts' fishing and trapping privileges for the next five years.

Physical evidence and an eyewitness account of the poaching incident led Fouts to plead guilty to the felony charge. Initially, Fouts claimed the .22-caliber bullet that killed the bighorn ewe "must have ricocheted." But when recovered, the bullet was in perfect condition, inconsistent with this claim.

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Idahoan in Montana....

HELENA - A 64-year-old Idaho man has agreed to pay more than $13,000 in restitution and fines and will lose his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for life for illegally obtaining a Montana hunting license and killing a trophy bighorn sheep in north-central Montana.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say Roger J. Woodworth of Hayden, Idaho, was sentenced Nov. 6 by District Judge Nels Swandal as part of a plea agreement with Fergus County prosecutors.

FWP officials say Woodworth illegally bought a Montana resident hunting license in 2009, then applied and was drawn in the lottery for a bighorn license in the Missouri River Breaks north of Lewistown, where he shot the ram.

A tip led to the charges against Woodworth, who was required to give up the bighorn sheep mount.

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Idahoan in Idaho.....

Appearing in Idaho County Court on June 6, Paul Cortez (53) of Nampa stood silent as District Court Judge Gregory FitzMaurice handed down the poaching sentence. In addition to a lifetime hunting license revocation, Cortez received 30 days in jail, a $10,000 civil penalty, fines/court costs totaling $753 and four years of probation.

On November 6, 2015 while on routine jet boat patrol along the famous river, Fish and Game conservation officers Roy Kinner, Craig Mickelson, Dennis Brandt and Brian Perkes contacted Cortez at his hunting camp. Cortez’s hands and forearms were bloody, and after a brief conversation, Cortez admitted to shooting the bighorn ram from his camp as the animal came to the river for water. He then field dressed and stashed the carcass among rocks above the river. The poaching location is in Hunt Unit 19, where the bighorn sheep season closed on October 13.

Perkes then cited Cortez for unlawfully killing a trophy big game animal, possession of an illegally taken bighorn sheep, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. An April plea agreement with Idaho County Prosecutors allowed Cortez to plead guilty to one felony count of unlawfully killing a trophy big game animal, which included 15 days in jail. The second felony count and other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

In his comments during sentencing, Judge FitzMaurice noted that, “It’s my view that you’ve been given fairly lenient treatment. My view is that a signal needs to be sent out to others in your situation.” At his discretion, Judge FitzMaurice then doubled Cortez’s jail time to 30 days. Cortez addressed the court only briefly, stating that he “made a huge mistake in my judgement. I regret it.”

Cortez also asked the Judge not to revoke his hunting privileges for life, but the request was ignored. “The [illegal] killing of animals, especially rare animals, has serious consequences in this state,” Judge FitzMaurice said.

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Montanana in Montana

A Victor man has been ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and a $1,000 fine for illegally killing a trophy bighorn sheep.

Dennis Barbian shot the bighorn on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River and brought it to the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks office in Missoula to be registered on a license issued to his daughter.

Because Barbian's daughter was away at college and it is illegal for anyone other than the permit holder to shoot an animal, game wardens became suspicious. Barbian's daughter came into the Missoula FWP office a few days later and claimed the sheep was hers, but wardens learned in follow-up interviews it would have been impossible for her to have shot the animal.

Justice of the Peace John Odlin issued the restitution order and fine to Barbian on Wednesday.


"This is a trophy by any sheep hunter's imagination," said FWP Warden Capt. Jeff Darrah. "It would be one of the top 200 bighorn sheep ever shot in the United States."

To qualify as a trophy animal, a bighorn sheep's horns must make at least a three-quarter circle. The sheep Barbian shot had horns that made a complete circle.

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If his friend/hunting buddy was with him when he shot it, hopefully it's the last time he hunts with him (once he gets his privileges back.) You'd think he would have had eyes on the ram the entire time and seen the first one drop...

Greenhorn said:

Still "bummed" about not finding that big black rock I see.

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Are you talking to me? If so, I have no idea what you are talking about. Anyone?

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James Riley said:

If I go a sheep hunting, I'm going to be sure to take one of these..

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Greenhorn said:

Pretty sure I know what the next guy that messes up like this "WON'T" do..

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That was my first thought as well.

Greenhorn said:

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I doubt that in the country the sheep live in, that you would even need a shovel. There are lots of natural holes.

Isn't the whole purpose of turning yourself in for leniency for your mistake? This will put a stop to that for sure.

Some sexual predators get less than this guy. Disgraceful and shame on the "justice" system for treating him worse than a common poacher. If he had the supposed "intent", he would not have turned himself in.

sbhooper said:

I doubt that in the country the sheep live in, that you would even need a shovel. There are lots of natural holes.

Isn't the whole purpose of turning yourself in for leniency for your mistake? This will put a stop to that for sure.

Some sexual predators get less than this guy. Disgraceful and shame on the "justice" system for treating him worse than a common poacher. If he had the supposed "intent", he would not have turned himself in.

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I agree, leniency should be considered, given the circumstance, for self reporting. In fact I think in my home state of Pennsylvania we've had antler restrictions for whitetails for the last decade or so and they just recently changed the regs. to provide leniency for those who mistakenly kill a illegal deer and self report.
"The deer will be turned in to the officer, restitution of $25 for
each mistake deer shall be paid, and the hunter will be issued
another tag to pursue another deer. Failure to report and
deliver a deer killed by accident or mistake is punishable with
a fine up to $1,500 and license revocation."

$25 and a new tag vs. $1,500 and revocation - seems like a no brainer to me. Yes I realize that a whitetail is not a sheep, but the principal remains true to me.

Saying "fixed it for you" or "in other words" is okay, but knowingly attributing a quote to someone which is not thiers is dishonorable. You are consistently so.

87-6-907. Restitution for illegal killing, possession, or waste of trophy wildlife. In addition to other penalties provided by law, a person convicted or forfeiting bond or bail on a charge of purposely or knowingly illegally killing, taking, possessing, or wasting a trophy animal listed in this section shall reimburse the state for each trophy animal according to the following schedule:
(1) mountain sheep with at least one horn equal to or greater than a three-fourth curl as defined by commission regulation, $30,000;
(2) elk with at least six points on one antler, as defined by commission regulation, or any grizzly bear, $8,000;
(3) moose having antlers with a total spread of at least 30 inches, as defined by commission regulation, or any mountain goat, $6,000;
(4) antlered deer with at least four points on one antler as defined by commission regulation, $8,000;
(5) antelope with at least one horn greater than 14 inches in length as defined by commission regulation, $2,000.

The statute above was not violated if he did not plead guilty to other than what he stated and that is that it was a mistake. If he pleaded guilty to what the statute reads, then the DA or in this instance the JP would have no discretion on the $30,000. IMHO the guy should be appealing the $30,000 restitution if he didn't plead guilty to the actual statute because the JP certainly would have the discretion to not use that statute and only fine the guy and take away his privileges like he did. It sounds like he didn't even consult with an attorney who would have probably caught the meaning of the statute and could have gotten him off from the restitution, but that is just conjecture since none of us know what actually happened in Court.

This situation can spark a big debate. One of the messages Hunters Safety pounded into my head was know your target and beyond. I think this mistake could of been avoided. I know its hard when you are excited, adreneline is pumping and you have a once in a lifetime tag but we always need to practice propor ethics and basic fundimentals. I try to make a conscience effort to know exactly what is beyond my target. I will admit though that I have rushed some shots but after this article I will strive to take more time.

I think he should not have shot the second time if he was not 100% sure that that was the same ram. I am sure it could be difficult to distinguish between different rams in a group at a fast glance and adrenaline pumping. Surely with two men there one of them would have saw it drop. I had an instance where I shot at a pretty decent mule deer and when I was about up to where it was when I shot, I saw a mule deer that had the same points and looked almost identical. Presenting me an easy shot. I could not confirm 100% though that it was the same deer and did not know if I connected with my first shot on the buck. So I decided not to shoot. After looking for a long time in the snow for blood and following its tracks I found out I missed. I was bummed I missed but it could of turned bad if I did hit the first deer and the second one was a different deer.
I do think $30,000 restitution is steep especially for being honest but I know FWP has the standards of restitution for trophy animals. I don’t know if they are able to bend the standards depending on the situation or if it is a set price (your dad might know this). I can see where it will make other honest people not turn themselves in but I think the point of the high prices is to get people to slow down, be more ethical, and prevent the situation from happening in the first place. There are also what if scenarios. What if someone has a once in a lifetime ram tag and shoots one and a way bigger one steps out right after? They then would rather have the bigger one so they shoot the bigger one thinking that they could avoid a huge fine (like the guy in the article got) if he turns himself in and get a slap on the wrist for being honest. He could portray he shot the big one and accidentally shot the smaller one maybe getting to keep the bigger one since he turned himself in and his story was believable. Again different what if senerios can go on forever.
Like I said this situation can bring up a huge debate.

Unfortunately, the way the statute is written, by pleading guilty, it made him liable for the restitution fine. It would be an easy fix legislatively to give justices the discretion they need when it comes to extenuating circumstances such as this.

Ben Lamb said:

Unfortunately, the way the statute is written, by pleading guilty, it made him liable for the restitution fine. It would be an easy fix legislatively to give justices the discretion they need when it comes to extenuating circumstances such as this.

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In a perfect world, sure. But then there would be lack of "justice" when "discretion" is involved. It needs to black and white rather than gray. With that said, this hunter got the bad end of the deal and/or made poor choices after the legalities were initiated.

I guess the old adage my attorney gave me holds true: When considering doing the right thing, 1st Shut up, 2nd Lawyer up and 3rd admit nothing.

Nemont said:

I guess the old adage my attorney gave me holds true: When considering doing the right thing, 1st Shut up, 2nd Lawyer up and 3rd admit nothing.

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Bingo! Just don't cover up.

JoseCuervo said:

Tough thing is with mandatory minimum sentences, and the "mandatory" trophy price that the State has assigned to the Big Horns....


Someday, we will have legislatures that trust judges. Until then, we will have barstool voters with Faux Outrage demanding long criminal sentences on pot smokers, accidental hunting incidents, and enemy combatants in the War on Christmas.

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I give two "thumbs up" to Jose with this post.

mdhunter said:

I give two "thumbs up" to Jose with this post.

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I can't believe I said such a thing, lol.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Haven't read through the whole thread yet to see how everyone is responding, but the whole innocent mistake/took the high road of self-reporting story is not as cut and dried as it seems.

James Riley said:

Saying "fixed it for you" or "in other words" is okay, but knowingly attributing a quote to someone which is not thiers is dishonorable. You are consistently so.

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Anyone with half a brain can see that GH is messing with you. A little ribbing is not dishonorable. You're the quickest one on this forum to file a hurt feelers report. Lighten up.

Gerald Martin said:

Haven't read through the whole thread yet to see how everyone is responding, but the whole innocent mistake/took the high road of self-reporting story is not as cut and dried as it seems.

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Do tell.

Gerald Martin said:

Haven't read through the whole thread yet to see how everyone is responding, but the whole innocent mistake/took the high road of self-reporting story is not as cut and dried as it seems.

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Would you please elaborate on that if you know more than what has been reported and it's not a mistake like the hunter stated.