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September 26, 2003
Appeals court upholds poaching fine
'Trophy surcharge' set to protect big wildlife
By Howard Pankratz, Denver Post Legal Affairs Writer
Two days after wildlife officials announced one of the largest poaching busts in Colorado history, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Colorado's mandatory $10,000 fine for poaching large wildlife is constitutional.
The law, said the unanimous court, is designed to protect and preserve all the state's wildlife, not just trophy-size game animals.
Thursday's decision came in the Grand County case of William E. Pipes III, described by the court as an experienced hunter and taxidermist.
Pipes was convicted of illegally shooting and killing a bull elk with six points on one antler and and five on the other on private land. He took only the head, the antler rack and a few choice cuts of meat, and left the rest of the animal to rot.
He was sentenced to three years probation, 300 hours of useful community service and fined the state's "trophy surcharge" of $10,000 for killing the elk.
Pipes claimed the mandatory $10,000 surcharge shouldn't apply to him because the Boone and Crockett North American Game Guide defines a trophy animal as having six points on each antler.
The Colorado surcharge is imposed if one antler has six or more points.
The Court of Appeals said the fact that the law doesn't exactly follow Boone and Crockett is irrelevant.
By imposing a large fine on a person who illegally kills an adult bull elk of at least a certain size, the court said, the General Assembly's policy of discouraging poaching of all the state's wildlife is preserved.
The $10,000 fine was enacted by the legislature after the poaching of Samson, a massive bull elk with nine points on one side of its rack and eight on the other, in Estes Park. Samson, weighing 1,000 pounds and considered Estes Park's mascot, was killed in November 1995 when he was shot through the heart and lungs by a single crossbow arrow on private property at the Estes Park Center YMCA of the Rockies camp.
Pipes, of Littleton, was intercepted by employees of Pine Valley Ranching for Wildlife on Oct. 16, 1999.
Pipes, who had hunted for 40 years, had nine entries in the Boone and Crockett record book at the time he was caught.
Pipes, 63, claimed he took the meat he could and adequately dressed the remainder for later retrieval. But the court noted Thursday that before Pipes was discovered, the elk on the private ranch seemed to have been disturbed, possibly by a trespasser or poacher. Pipes was found after dark.
And when the elk was found, it hadn't been gutted or skinned to prevent meat spoilage.
On Tuesday, George Allen Waters of West Branch, Iowa, admitted to poaching as many as 45 trophy-quality deer and elk in Colorado and Iowa beginning in 1992.
Appeals court upholds poaching fine
'Trophy surcharge' set to protect big wildlife
By Howard Pankratz, Denver Post Legal Affairs Writer
Two days after wildlife officials announced one of the largest poaching busts in Colorado history, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Colorado's mandatory $10,000 fine for poaching large wildlife is constitutional.
The law, said the unanimous court, is designed to protect and preserve all the state's wildlife, not just trophy-size game animals.
Thursday's decision came in the Grand County case of William E. Pipes III, described by the court as an experienced hunter and taxidermist.
Pipes was convicted of illegally shooting and killing a bull elk with six points on one antler and and five on the other on private land. He took only the head, the antler rack and a few choice cuts of meat, and left the rest of the animal to rot.
He was sentenced to three years probation, 300 hours of useful community service and fined the state's "trophy surcharge" of $10,000 for killing the elk.
Pipes claimed the mandatory $10,000 surcharge shouldn't apply to him because the Boone and Crockett North American Game Guide defines a trophy animal as having six points on each antler.
The Colorado surcharge is imposed if one antler has six or more points.
The Court of Appeals said the fact that the law doesn't exactly follow Boone and Crockett is irrelevant.
By imposing a large fine on a person who illegally kills an adult bull elk of at least a certain size, the court said, the General Assembly's policy of discouraging poaching of all the state's wildlife is preserved.
The $10,000 fine was enacted by the legislature after the poaching of Samson, a massive bull elk with nine points on one side of its rack and eight on the other, in Estes Park. Samson, weighing 1,000 pounds and considered Estes Park's mascot, was killed in November 1995 when he was shot through the heart and lungs by a single crossbow arrow on private property at the Estes Park Center YMCA of the Rockies camp.
Pipes, of Littleton, was intercepted by employees of Pine Valley Ranching for Wildlife on Oct. 16, 1999.
Pipes, who had hunted for 40 years, had nine entries in the Boone and Crockett record book at the time he was caught.
Pipes, 63, claimed he took the meat he could and adequately dressed the remainder for later retrieval. But the court noted Thursday that before Pipes was discovered, the elk on the private ranch seemed to have been disturbed, possibly by a trespasser or poacher. Pipes was found after dark.
And when the elk was found, it hadn't been gutted or skinned to prevent meat spoilage.
On Tuesday, George Allen Waters of West Branch, Iowa, admitted to poaching as many as 45 trophy-quality deer and elk in Colorado and Iowa beginning in 1992.
