So...a wise man learns from the lessons of others. In this case, the lesson is, if you break the rules, don't send pictures of the results into magazines so they can publish them!
Man's hunting magazine photo gets him in trouble
It's kind of confusing...because they got the guy on was not what they originally started investigating him for. I watched a few local news stories to get the whole picture. Kyle McCormack(referred to now on as chucklehead) sent Buckmasters Magazine a picture of two whitetail bucks he shot in Kansas, claiming he shot one in archery season, and one in rifle season. A lifetime hunter in Kansas says 'strange...you can't shoot two antlered deer in the same year in Kansas', and tips off the authorities.
Upon investigating chuckleheads house, they find antlers from a bull elk and a black-tail deer that were taken in the Capitol State Forest here in Washington without proper licensing. What they were actually able to get him on was the 'illegal interstate commerce of wildlife', and he plead his way down to one year of probation, and a $500 fine, and then agreeing to donate another $2500 to the Lacey Act Reward Fund(which goes to reward tips against wildlife law violators).
Two things missing from the article, and I'm trying to do research to find out more info...but what about future hunting licenses? None of the stories I've read say anything about that...and that is how you get to guys like this. Make him wait 5 years before he can go hunting again...and not just in Washington where he broke the rules...EVERYWHERE. As near as I can tell, this guy was gunning for his own TV show...not being able to hunt would curtail that career choice.
Also...Why WASHINGTON? And why the Capitol State Forest? As a Washington resident and hunter, I'm here to tell you...Washington is not a premier hunting location. To get here, he had to go through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho...all of those are better choices for elk hunting than Washington. And as for the Capitol State Forest...it's a nice little 90,000 acre state forest that begins about 5 miles south of Olympia, and it's proximity on the south Puget Sound area make it a very popular hunting destination for folks who can't take time off to get further away. It's not a trophy factory though.
Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.
I don't think that one is bright enough to get his own TV show, unless it's with a Kardashian.
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