Bowsite.com

i emailed them a few weeks ago no response.

other suggestions?

thanks

Yes the is still around for sure

thanks man

NM Highcountry, you seem like you have an axe to grind. Please post the full transcript, not just a selective summary that makes it sound far worse that it was.

A critical thinker would ask: if Steven was knowingly guiding without forest service permits why would he let me post my story on Bowsite for tens of thousands of people to follow every day? Why was he not worried about me openly discussing our hunt taking place in the Coconino? A knowingly guilty person could have easily asked me not to disclose where we were hunting - he did not.

I was asked to cooperate with the USFWS and I did. To me, this sounded more like a clerical paperwork error than a serious violation. The Forest Service investigator, who flew to my office in Hartford to question me acted like he was hunting El Chapo. Still, I cooperated fully as I had done nothing wrong and sensed that neither had Steven.

As is so often the case, sometimes its' easier to accept lessor charge than try to fight a federal agency and bankrupt your family with legal fees. I don't blame Steven for making it go away. I learned a lot about the federal justice system during that investigation. All I kept thinking is: They flew investigators across the country for this? While international murderers, rapists and violent gangs are flooding across our borders and nothing is done to stop them? It seemed ridiculous to me.

One last thing. It was my first time hunting with Wards. He was above board about everything. LIke telling me while we were working a bull that we had a few minutes left to legal sunset, making sure we stayed away from other hunters working a bull (they did not reciprocate), following all the forest service rules about staying on designated roads, etc. I saw nothing that made me question Steven's ethics or adherence to laws. That was provided to the investigators during their OTR testimony.

Bottom line: I would hunt with Steven again.

didn't mean to start a whole thing here...

apologies

When I traveled to Mexico I had some concern regarding safety. Steven made sure I was met at the airport by someone I recognized and who spoke English as well I do. I can't say enough positive things about Steven and would not hesitate in recommending him to fellow bowhunters.

Agree with Pat. Our government can't seem to put together an adequate system to monitor murders, rapists, or drug dealers. However, try to bring a set of antlers back into the country and its takes two hours to pass through customs. Ridiculous.

—Jim

After reading all this and what went down I would still hunt with wards. They seem to do a fabulous job year in and year out for their clients! On clerical screw up and someone at F&G took it to the bank instead of allowing a fix like they have a million times it sounds.

I've hunted with Steven several times. My son and I were hunting deer with him a few weeks prior to Pat's elk hunt. Steven was hoping to have Wyatt come back to video for Pat but Wyatt was hired as a deputy sheriff right after our hunt and couldn't make it work to get back. Point is, I don't think Steven would have wanted Wyatt videoing Pat's hunt had he known he was doing anything "illegal".

There are a lot of great bow hunters who no longer post much on Bowsite or other places simply due to the jealousy and envy of others. Funny how one person's hard earned success can fuel so much contempt by others....or in this case, perhaps a C.O. just couldn't believe that an outfitter could have such a high success rate? He could never catch him doing anything illegal while hunting so he had to find another way to attack his business.

lol. OR, maybe half the people read the thread at cousewhitetail.com (see link) or listened to the audio of the game commissioner/outfitter meeting and realize there's a whole lot more to this than the handful of clients of this outfitter that are posting here and the outfitter would like everyone to believe. There appears to be very valid reasons why the charges were as "severe" as some here are complaining about, and I see why some folks think the charges should have been more severe than they actually were. I understand why NM found the thread at cousewhitetail interesting, I found it interesting too especially the last couple pages for those that don't want to read all 7 pages. IMO anyone that reads the thread at couse or listens to the audio of the game commissioner meeting and still feels it's valid to opine that the outfitter "did nothing wrong" or "made a simple mistake" or "was targeted unfairly" or even "got a bad deal" with the charges is not looking at this from an unbiased position.

Coconino was was aware Ward had not been getting permits last several years to take clients on the Coconino. Coconino sent letter to Ward stating they aren’t allowed to guide on Coconino. Ward does anyway. Coconino LEO contacts AZGFD Mike Richins and asks to see guide report. It is noted that Ward left off all hunters that hunted Coconino. I believe it was $60,000 worth of guide fees. However many clients that is. Wards Outfitters was guiding Pat Lefemine the owner of bowsite.com on an archery elk hunt. They were posting a live hunt everyday on bowsite for the world to follow along. The hunt went on for several days then Pat killed a bull. The outfitter claimed he forgot to file reports of his hunts on the Coconino plus he had no forest permit for that forest but remembered to file all their hunts on the Coronado where he did have a forest permit. The USFS said they had notified him about forest permits. The Game Commission said, you put us in this position and suspended their Outfitters license for 5 years.

That's possible, give the audio a listen and you'll have the info straight from the people involved.

2:08:30

I'm not a Ward fan by any stretch, but your comment crossed the line. Pat had a valid hunting license and broke no laws. Nor was he required to be in the presence of a licensed guide.

I just listened to the video link above. From what I can tell it is apparent that he knew exactly what he did before he did it. I just don't see how it could have been a "mistake". Just too many things coming together on one issue for it to be a mistake.

But......... I can't for the life of me figure out why he would be trying to hide it over a few thousand dollars if he donates money like he said. What's a few grand in the sceme of the dollars that he moves. So I wouldn't say 100% it was all done on purpose. But I would give it a better than not odds he did.

When the hunter is doing something illegal.

Some pretty whacky takes on this thread.