# Hunter To Pay $23K After Illegally Killing Deer



## fishwendel2 (Nov 19, 2007)

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio  A Logan County man is required to pay nearly $24,000 in restitution after he admitted to killing a trophy white-tailed deer, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced Monday.

James C. Alspaugh, of West Mansfield, pleaded guilty to three charges, including hunting by the aid of a motor vehicle, shooting from a roadway and hunting without permission.

Alspaugh, 39, was ordered to pay more than $500 in court costs and fines and had to forfeit the deer. He also spent two days in jail.

The Ohio Department of Wildlife imposed restitution for the deer in the amount of $23,816.95.

The restitution is the largest for a poached deer ever imposed in Ohio, according to the ODNR.

State wildlife officials said that a concerned citizen contacted Ohio wildlife officers about the questionable shooting of the trophy deer in December.

Officers recovered the deer and determined that it was unlawfully taken.

Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for additional information.

Does anyone have more info on this? I hunt in Logan county and this is the first I heard of it


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## puterdude (Jan 27, 2006)

Ouch,bet he doesn't do that again


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## CRAPPIE LOVER (Feb 11, 2007)

Wonder how many high fence deer hunts he could have had for $24,000..Plus he will loose his hunting privilages for life..Not worth it for sure..But there is always someone out there that will do or try it....JIM...CL....


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## big red (Feb 4, 2010)

i live just a few miles from where this deer was taken.heard it was really big and there was a question about how it was taken from some fellow hunters.huge deer like this are not very common for this area.afew are taken each year that do go in the 150's-160's.i'm glad he got nailed because,there is no place for someone like this.


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## fishwendel2 (Nov 19, 2007)

For that kind of money he could have went right down the road to Valleyview Whitetails and taken a nice high fence deer. Dumb dumb dumb.


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## WiseEyes (Apr 7, 2010)

does anyone else think that 23 k might be excessive


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## negs (May 25, 2010)

not at all i think it was one of the best decisions the odnr ever made when it started fining these poachers in the 5 digits for killing trophy deer. i mean a couple of years ago this guy would have paid a fine of maybe $250-500. what kinda of deterrent is that?


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## johntom13 (Feb 8, 2009)

I believe that with the imposed fine it would make him refrain from doing it again. Lower the fine and it becomes a much lesser crime to the perp.
In todays society we let too many people off with a slap on the wrist. People need to be held accountable for their actions, each and every time. 
Look at these knuckle heads in professional sports, actors or political office that get away with murder. How much longer are we going to stand for it? I would hope that ODOW does not back down on the amount imposed.


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

i'm a pretty firm believer in accepting the consequences that are delt for doing something wrong. you can't do something illegal expecting a slap on the wrist and then get pissed when you realize you're actually going to have to suffer in some way for your actions.


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## Nikster (Mar 14, 2007)

Nope!

$$ is fine but in my opinion he should loose his hunting/fishing privilege's for 10 years & all surrounding States.

Make it known that if one violates hunting/fishing privileges your gonna pay dearly. I abide by all rules to the best of my ability for the sake of being able to hunt, fish in this GREAT COUNTRY of ours.

Nik,


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## puterdude (Jan 27, 2006)

Guess I am too much of a hardballer. I.personally think he should never again be permitted to hunt or fish in Ohio period.How can anyone trust him? It's one thing to keep a fish over your limit,or a short length fish,or an extra squirrel but to shoot a deer from a vehicle,out of season, from a roadway,without permission,a trophy.No, he made way too many bad judgements in my book.I'm all for giving a second chance but not on some things and this is one of them.Just my opinion.


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## Agitation Free (Jul 11, 2010)

Saw the article in my issue of American Hunter and all I could say was... what a dumb a$$. He deserves whatever he gets. He screwed those 2 guys that were hunting that buck legally. :!


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## RedCanoe59 (Apr 9, 2009)

a while back there was an artical about ted nugent getting pinched for hunting deer over a bait site and california. he lost his hunting prividges in california for 3 years, but because of the interstate wildlife violater's compact his ability to hunt was suspended in the 35 states in that compact. Ohio is also in this and that means this guy will no be able to get a licence to hunt in thoose states


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

The fine was so high because of the new law's on how a buck will have a price tag depending on size. There is a set dollar amount per inch of a bucks rack. Bigger the big = bigger the fine. Dudes fault plain and simple. I truly think he should never be able to hold a license in any state....ever. Whats the difference per state....do it in one he'll do it in all. Punishment needs to be shown so it'll slow down other poachers and make them think twice. 

Same thing happened to a large deer takin in sandusky county that was a well known buck. That guy got a slap on the wrist pretty much. New laws are good....pretty expensive but good.


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## NewbreedFishing (Apr 15, 2004)

i think the fines are excessive but that kind of poaching should get your hunting license pulled in all states for 5 years or more.

i would like to see the fines for poaching fish increased


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## negs (May 25, 2010)

what does taking a poachers hunting privileges away accomplish. these are people who probably have never bought a license or tag anyways. a large fine for first offense followed by mandatory jail time and more fines for any future violations is the only way to get their attention.


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## FISH DINNER (Jul 23, 2010)

negs said:


> what does taking a poachers hunting privileges away accomplish. these are people who probably have never bought a license or tag anyways. a large fine for first offense followed by mandatory jail time and more fines for any future violations is the only way to get their attention.


I agree with negs on this one. We are talking about someone dumb enough to poach deer from a motor vehicle. Do you honestly think this is the first time he has broken the law? This is just the first time he was caught. Suspending this guy's license is only going to make him laugh if that is his only sentence. He's still going to go out and shoot what he wants when he wants regardless of whether or not is in possession of a valid hunting license. The only way to make an impact on guys like this is to hit them where it hurts.. the pocketbook. Make them open those wallets and shell out more cash than they make in a couple years. That would make anyone think twice before committing a crime, and the money that is collected should be rightfully filtered into the onservtion efforts of the DOW.


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