Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Jury Finds Bob Kern Not Guilty

The defendant I know is a former president of both Dallas and Houston Safari Clubs, high profile owner of a huge pipeline company, and according to Forbes the richest guy in Houston. The speculation is that he was the target.....for reasons nobody knows. I mean, its not like they can't find enough wildlife violations in Texas, you know? Do they really need to try to enforce their vision of Russian fish and game law?

bear, was this to me? I don't understand what you're asking, if it is.

Is this the outcome of the same story we bantied about a ways back?

My memory is getting refreshed after Steve's friend from Houston comments above.

Yes.

Tha Lacy Act, like the Mann Act, is easy to abuse and it happens regularly. - unlike the Mann Act.

The lesson is clear. To the Feds, sex is good, hunting is bad.
Or something like that.

Agreed!

Why was this even the feds business?

Steve

Not only is the person you are talking about one of the richest men in Houston but he is one of the richest men in the World. He is in the top 50 of Forbes list of Billionaires.

Two others, a Father and Son, are also from Houston.

Tom Riley was the Head of the SE Region for USF&W when he went on the hunt. (this is where the trial took place.) He was on the Bush very short list for head of the Dept of the Interior when Bush was elected but Politics and Indiana Coal money swung the position to Gail Norton.

The hunt was booked through Kern for Moose in Kamchatka. Rumours of bigger than Alaska Moose have been circulated for years from there.

When they got there they found out there were no roads, no vehicles and no way to access the hunting area. The outfitter called in a Helicopter, a very common hunting tool in all of Russia. Shooting from a Helicopter in Russia is illegal but it is done all the time by shooters wanting a big trophy. It is much more prevalent in Sheep Hunting but Moose Hunting and Bear Hunting also get there fair share of shooters from choppers.

Short story is, they shot a couple of Moose by getting off the chopper and shooting. This is legal. They shot 3 more from the Chopper. This was videoed by the Son.

The video was shown at the SCI Convention in Kern's Booth for a short time. Quite a few people saw it. After a couple of hours one of the Hunters came along, saw the video and went ballistic in front of about 40 other attendees. A lot of screaming and such and the video was removed. The video not only showed them shooting but showed one Moose with a large caliber bullet hole in the palm of one antler.

The tape was subsequently seized by USF&W, as were the trophies that Kern arranged to import. Riley was forced to resign his position but two of the other participants arranged for him to become SCI Executive Director. When the story came out he was forced out by the BOD.

The Billionaire was charged as he was the shooter that put the hole in the horn. He got the case dismissed by pleading ignorance of the law in regards to shooting from the chopper. This despite the fact he has around 50 trips to Russia to hunt. Money talks.

Kern, as the Booking Agent, and probably the biggest Agent in booking hunts in Russia, was charged with importing the Trophies. The trial was held in the SE District where Riley used to be the Boss. The tape and the Horns disappeared from F&W custody before the trial began.

Anyone here doubt that a Russian Official, deeply involved with getting overseas hunters to Russia as part of his job, would not spin the hunt in favour of the largest Booking Agent in Russia? Maybe an 'extra large tip' was involved.

I understand that there are abut 40 other cases involving similar methods waiting in the wings. The USF&W Service
sees this as a huge problem and they also see it as a chance to bring some of these rich shooters down a peg.

Whether or not this is the right thing to spend money on is up for debate.

The Lacey Act doesn't only cover importation of Animal parts but anything that was acquired illegally from a Foreign Country. We have similar requests that other Countries prosecute their citizens for doing similar things in the US.

One Aussie who shot some Elk in Yellowstone, with a Wyoming Outfitter, was prosecuted in Australia under their version of this Law. It is legal to hunt in Aussie National Parks so there was a lot of people there that couldn't understand why it was such a big deal.

I represent the guy's company , and have hunted his Double D ranch. I don't know anything about the facts of the Russian hunt, but I do know the guy has donated a ton of money to conservation causes over the years, and has given a lot of his very valuable time to the cause of hunting.

Well...we sure have a helluva a lot of "sportsmen" here.

There is no defense for waging war on moose and bears from choppers...NONE! The fact that it was done seems evident.

I have had enough of this forum and the kill before sport attitudes.

So long...

Man, who put ants in luv2safari's pants?


I guess he missed the distinction between supporting helicopter hunting and wondering what the US is doing trying to enforce Russian law if the Russians say no law was broken.

I didn't hear anybody cheering for helicopter hunting.

Well, except me and Bristoe talking about hunting Mongolian horsemen from a helicopter. Maybe that was what got him.

Hey now,.. I didn't condone it.

I just speculated that it was the cause for the uproar.

Wow!
"I understand that there are abut 40 other cases involving similar methods waiting in the wings. The USF&W Service
sees this as a huge problem and they also see it as a chance to bring some of these rich shooters down a peg."

USFWS sees enforcement of other countries' hunting laws as a huge problem?!?! Do I hear huge WTF for that?

But more to the point... Where does anyone get off thinking bringing rich guys down a peg is a justified expense of taxpayer dollars? Especially when they have so many felonious duck skin peddlars tempting old men tying flies!
art

Your comment about SCI --Shrunken heads & behind fences was the comment I referred to. Just because(& it was not the issue here) some one takes an animal behind a fence does not mean SCI will accept as a trophy record even in a "Estate" category.

Steve

Since you know him than you are aware of his accomplishments in the Hunting world, which are substantial. You also know that, at his age and physical condition, he would not be very likely to slog around in the Muskeg for days hunting Moose on foot.

Be that as it may it is interesting to wonder why the Government is prosecuting something that happens a lot when there is no interest from the Country in which it happened.

Some speculation rests on Tom Riley. In his position he would have been the person to make the call on prosecution of another hunter for doing the same thing if the trophies were brought in through Atlanta. Perhaps USF&W needed an example?

Another thought is his close ties to the Bush White house may have been too much temptation for colleagues whom he disagreed with to pass up. They caught him red handed doing what he was supposed to be protecting wildlife from. By getting convictions on Kern and or the other Gentleman they could get to him.

Another Hunter did a similar thing in Mozambique. Shot a large Ele out of a Chopper. A $25,000 donation to the local Governor's Hospital Project and a permit was issued retroactively. End of case.

Me, neither. No shrunken heads here. Move on. Nothing to see. Clinton voice: "I did not have sex with that Mongolian horseman. Or that Mongolian horse."

mickey....I had heard there was a political, anti-Bush component to it. And I know there are plenty of bunny-huggers and Greenpeace wannabes in that department. But I'm amazed they got an AUA who was willing to show his ass in public by bringing a dog's breakfast like that to trial.

The whole case just makes no sense,I would think the Lacy Act would never be used to prosecute a case in which the host nation or state has no issues with the way game is harvested.

I do not agree with shooting game animals other than vermin like hogs or wolves from the air but if the Russians do not enforce their laws,we have no buisness meddling in their hunting rules and enforcement.


Britt

Uh, that was a joke, bro. I don't hunt Mongolian horsemen, free ranging OR high fenced.

The standards at SCI for fair chase behind a fence are as follows, BTW:

May 2006

Recreational hunting and the concept of �fair chase� has been linked for as long as recreational hunting has existed. However, the terms and conditions of what constitutes �fair chase� when hunting is conducted within a high fenced area has never been fully or clearly defined.

SCI believes that the following conditions must be met, or exceeded, in order for the concept of �fair chase� to apply for hunting mammals within high fenced areas in North America:

* The animals hunted must have freely resided on the property on which they are being hunted for at least six months, or longer.
* The hunting property shall provide escape cover that allows the animals to elude hunters for extended periods of time and multiple occurrences. Escape cover, in the form of rugged terrain or topography, and/or dense thickets or stands of woods, shall collectively comprise at least 50% of the property.
* The animals hunted must be part of a breeding herd that is a resident on the hunted property.
* The operators of the preserve must provide freely available and ample amounts of cover, food and water at all times.
* Animals that are to be hunted must exhibit their natural flight/survival instincts.
* No zoo animals, exhibited animals or tame animals are to be hunted.
* No hunting or selling of hunting rights to a specified animal.
* Hunting methods employed cannot include driving, herding or chasing animals to awaiting hunters.
* Every effort must be made to utilize all meat commonly consumed from a taken animal.

The minimum amount of land necessary to meet these requirements varies by region, terrain and habitat type. Setting a standard minimum area is unlikely to be realistic. However, SCI recommends that state/provincial wildlife management agencies work with the operators and the hunting community within their area to establish specific regulations to guide the operation of hunting preserves.