March 13, 2012
By Andy Walgamott, SportsManMag.com
An Entiat Valley, Wash., man who killed a trophy muley in a unit he didn’t have a special permit for last November will pay a hefty fine and won’t be hunting this fall.
Ryan R. Wood, 35, drew into a coveted Chiwawa Unit buck tag, but instead illegally killed the deer in an orchard over in the Entiat Unit. Then he and his father, Glen R. Wood, 62, transported it up the valley to gut in the Chiwawa to make it seem legit.
They were foiled, however, by the valley’s eyes and ears, and the work of WDFW Officers Eric Oswald and Graham Grant.
Ryan Wood plead guilty late last month in Chelan County District Court to single charges of unlawful hunting of big game in the second degree and giving false information. He was fined a total of $6,200 and sentenced to a day on a Department of Corrections work crew.
In addition, WDFW retained his Remington Model 700 from the incident and will revoke his hunting privileges for the next two seasons.
Glen Wood also plead guilty to unlawful hunting of big game, second degree, was fined $6,000 and will also be sitting out the 2012 and 2013 hunts too.
The fines are particularly steep because the buck was a 4-pointer, and under the state’s laws, that qualifies it as a trophy and the enhanced penalty.
The fine for poaching bucks with 3 points or fewer on a side, not counting eyeguards, is $2,000.
Oswald credited the tipster who called WDFW’s poaching hotline (1-877-933-9847) for making the case.
“Without the call it would have been really difficult to solve this case,” he said. “Thanks to guys willing to step forward and report this stuff.”