Finally these Bastards got some charges
Kansas
Ok, I have fought for this case for years as it never made sense an outfitter from out of state had the ability to lease 26 sections of Wiha with only 50 tags for Non residents ( the guys who will spend the most ). Business wise it did not make sense. However in this artticle has not been named so i hope there are bigger things to come via the feds.
Wish the fines would have been higher for all three, and lifetime bans, good job KDWP!
Sito,
I am guessing there will be more and Tayton I am sure pleaded as he was a kid at the time. It looks like the kid took all the charges as a minor maybe? It has been a shitshow since 2015. I have even been to KDWP meetings pleading the case against what was happening
Thanks Matt, stand up or shut up, that's how it works
Matt,
The link is not bringing up any news or article, just an FYI.
I do not know why the website took the story down.
Saw this on archerytalk, hoping this isn’t the end of the charges; surely there was transportation across state lines.
Matte, Can you elaborate more on the whole topic of what was taking place? Was the penalties pursuant with the 2021 Kansas Statutes 32-1032? It appears the charges are not enforced as outlined and with so many offenses they should have went further with the suspensions.
I wish I could but I with pleads there is a grey area of information. Here is what I know. A kid and his father met another man an outfitter at a deer show in Nashville. They mentioned they had a great area for Mule Deer and helped the Outfitter secure land as the father worked for the John Deer dealership in the area and was a local. Hence the large chunk of leasing that was able to happen in less than a few months with big money and some money tied to bonus money for landowners. The kid was 15 when I first met him and sounded really intent on a career in wildlife although he said the entire county was mad at him and his dad for bringing in outside money and leasing up most of the public in the area. I told him follow your dreams kid. Then things got strange and the local are coffee drinkers were talking. The Game warden for the area is very savy and there was alot of help. I hope the kid will do a pod cast on The hunting public to explain really what went down. I feel he took the fall as a minor. I do not think this is over or should it be if there are not federal charges.
Got off easy so many more should be charged and banned.
The kid is connected to the Hunting Public?
No but there has been alot of old Outlaws coming on shows explaining their deeds. Just a name that popped in my head after watching a few lately
Matte,
I am sure I am missing something so please help me understand. Did some LOs take their land out of WHIA and lease to these outfitters? Because the outfitters paid more? They are not in legal trouble for doing this?
Obviously poaching is criminal but I am not clear on how the land use is a legal problem. Thank you.
Many landowners are taking their land out of WIHA and leasing it. I noticed the WIHA signs disappeared last fall after they had been there all summer just 4 miles down the road from me. I called the landowner and he told me the "state wasn't treating me fair" so he pulled it all out. 4 different sections. I would say about a 1/3 of the WIHA has disappeared around here the last 2 years. Most of it being leased.
Its happening because guys are paying 20 or 30 dollars an acre because its "Kansas" and the state cannot compete with that type pf money. Shawn
Profit sharing from successful hunts tied to the leases. Tracy was a head service man at the area John Deer dealership with local connections. He used that position to convince owners who were already leasing their ground to get in this Xtreme Outfitting Adventure. According to my sources Xtreme was the money and the local guys were set up to be guides including Tayton who was a minor at the time.
ALL the customers should be in court too.
Been off the grid for a bit. This was nice to see. Never did care for that operation.
Been off the grid for a bit. This was nice to see. Never did care for that operation.
The WIHA program will continue to lease mostly mediocre deer habitat that is not snatched up by folks with deeper pockets. A comparison in the west is elk habitat on private ranches which is often leased. This is why some folks who try their hand at public elk hunting are disappointed that it doesn't resemble the Primos, Realtree etc......video hunts with undisturbed elk that come running into calls and calmly walk into water holes and alfalfa fields.
Public land hunters and WIHA hunters in Kansas will kill some nice bucks on occasion especially if a buck wanders from leased or managed neighboring land. But it's a crowded, overused resource in many cases especially during peak times like the rut.
From a landowner's perspective, imagine seeing dumped trash, tracks driving into their pasture or field or a gate left open. Unless they catch the person doing it, they have no idea who to hold accountable. If it's leased to an individual or small group, a simple phone call gets the problem resolved........oftentimes for more money and less headache than the "public option."
The conundrum is state laws and hunting regulations that pertain to baiting, leasing, guiding, tag allocations and bag limits either encourage or discourage leasing and public hunting opportunities. What does Kansas seem to encourage or discourage?
What effect does increasing non-resident tag allotments and prices have for increased revenue to the state and residents who participate in hunting? Are legislatures and game departments really that flexible once they've received and budgeted those large sum of monies?
Some have gazed into the future and predicted that things will never change until game populations crash or over-hunting makes the resource less valuable. Given the large ranches especially in western Kansas under private control, that seems unlikely to me.
I'd say you're right on everything Rough Country. I have noticed a decline in rifle hunting on public the last 2 years though. I think a lot of guys have simply given up, or started hunting waterfowl instead.
Seems private control is doing good managing the game then.
As a landowner/farmer… “private control” is doing a horrible job managing game. At least in regards to game population. That’s not an opinion.
As a farmer I also understand leasing your ground out. The constant knocks on the door/random calls are a headache…. Most of which come from waterfowlers. Last year was a nightmare. I’ve already received 2 calls for duck hunting. Stake a “Leased” sign in your field and that will usually put an end to it. “No Hunting” signs don’t seem to work.
I hate it, but I get it.
My buddy who has some great ground to duck hunt gets those calls and he just tells them $300 upto 3 hunters a day. He will ask what day are you wanting? He makes a ton of money on just daily hunts and therefore does not have to lease his ground out by the season. They either pay to play or never call back.
Well, I’m not really that guy who needs paid for every thing. But I get it… not a bad idea.
I let some high school kids hunt some of our wheat fields last year and they rutted them up. Had some guys drinking beer while hunting as well and crossed the neighbors to get to mine where they had permission… made me look bad.
It weeds out those who really want to hunt and those who want to take advantage of you for what you have. I read this and gave him a call. I asked do you charge everyone and he was like no but i do know everyone who has permission to be there. I have seen grown men rut up ground goose hunting. Frozen when they went in thawed when they came out.
I forgot to mention a personal story in Kansas from 2016. That year I didn't have good options to hunt with one small tree belt near a road on a friend's place. I also hunted two pieces of WIHA that the same friend had observed some activity on.
I ended up shooting a decent 3.5 or 4.5 year old buck on the very back corner of the WIHA that a few deer occasionally crossed at first or last light between some premium managed ag fields to the east and some rougher pasture with trees and brush to the west. The topography and distance from a road allowed it to be overlooked and I really believe I could have taken a buck there during the rut every single year.
Even though it was mediocre deer habitat and would never hold much game since cattle usually grazed the other end of it, someone even leased the hunting rights and it's no longer on the books either.
You ever hear anything more on this Matt? Poking around the social medias the last couple days I saw Zach was in a squabble with a prospective sheep hunter that paid him for a hunt in which a tag was never issued and the hunter was trying to get his money back. I took the liberty of mentioning Zach’s involvement with the Weeter boys and Zach claimed that was the first he’d heard of any charges or trouble they’d got into. Find it hard to believe the state never reached out to him at all. Convicted poachers basically running your business for a few years and you don’t get so much as a call??
He is full of it. He knows. I have not heard anything else but, "it is an ongoing federal investigation"
Sad, the largest poaching bust in NE history!
I’ve never heard of them… guessing these “hunting celebrities” are relatively new?
