OutdoorWriter
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 8,276
Greybull poacher pleads guilty, will spend year in jail, pay $27K
by Kristen Inbody
Serial poacher Gary Vorhies has been found guilty of four poaching charges in Big Horn County.
Vorhies, 47, formerly of Greybull, pleaded no contest Saturday to three charges and guilty to a fourth new charge.
Vorhies was sentenced to four years in jail with three years suspended and $27,120 in fines and restitution.
His actions were a ?serious violation against Wyoming citizens,? Judge Thomas Harrington said in court.
Vorhies fired his public defender shortly before the hearing and represented himself as he entered his pleas and at sentencing.
During his four-year probation, Vorhies is banned from hunting, fishing and antler collection.
He can't possess in any state any firearm, bow, trap or anything else that could be used for any form of hunting or to be with anyone who does.
He also is prohibited from setting foot on state or federal land, though he can drive through without stopping.
?He?s to have no connection with any wildlife,? deputy county attorney Jim Hallman said. ?We asked for this kind of penalty because according to Game & Fish he is a repeat offender, and he's been convicted of charges in Park County in the past.?
Vorhies was found guilty in Cody in 1992 of poaching an elk and in 2001 of poaching two bighorn rams.
G&F suspended his hunting privileges for 50 years.
The duration of his probation is limited by the maximum length of possible sentencing, in this case one year for each of the misdemeanor charges.
The four charges in Big Horn County were for these incidents:
?In fall 1999, Vorhies killed a 4x4 white-tailed buck with a broken brow tine near Greybull.
Game warden Bill Robertson of Greybull said the deer had an unusual tine. It was taken out of season and while Vorhies was suspended from hunting.
Robertson said Vorhies used an interstate game tag falsely obtained and declared the deer was killed in 1990.
?In September 2000, Vorhies shot a five-point white-tail deer near Burlington without a license.
?In November 2000, Vorhies guided an out-of-state hunter west of Shell to a white-tailed buck, which the hunter shot. Vorhies told him not to tag it and guided him to another.
?Also in November 2000, Vorhies shot another deer in a closed area without a license.
The investigation into the four incidents began as G&F wrapped up a case against Vorhies in Cody, but evidence took years to surface, Robertson said.
TONY MANDILE
How To Hunt Coues Deer
