If you're going to poach in a national park, that last thing you ever, ever, ever want to do is keep written records of your hunts. That was one of the key mistakes a trio of California men apparently made in going after trophy mule deer in a remote corner of Yosemite National Park.
As a result, the three are facing a series of federal and state poaching charges, likely will have their bows and arrows confiscated, and likely will be banned from entering a national park for the foreseeable future.
“This is the most egregious case of illegal hunting we have uncovered here in Yosemite National Park," Chief Ranger Steve Shackelton said Tuesday. "Wildlife in Yosemite is as important as Half Dome or Yosemite Falls. We take this activity very seriously and will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute anybody found to be partaking in this activity. This is a very serious offense and we want to send a clear message that we will not tolerate illegal hunting in Yosemite National Park.”
Park officials identified the trio as Chad Gierlich, Chris Gierlich, and Kyle Narasky, all of Riverside County in southern California. The investigation "uncovered a complex, concerted effort by these individuals to illegally hunt within the park and kill trophy size bucks. Search warrants resulted in the seizure of items such as bows and arrows, GIS devices, mounted kills, and several items that led to the charges being filed," a park release said.
“There is proof that they have killed six deer in the park, and probably more that we don’t know about," said park spokeswoman Kari Cobb. "But we know they’ve killed at least six.”
Joining park rangers in investigating the poaching, which apparently ran for a number of years near Summit Lake along the eastern side of the park north of Tioga Pass, were Pacific West Region Special Agents, and California Department of Fish and Game wardens. Multiple federal charges regarding the illegal hunting have been filed which fall under the Lacey Act and Title 36 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). In addition to poaching within the park, state charges have been filed alleging that illegal hunting activity occurred on land under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Fish and Game.
The defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court in the next few weeks.
Comments
This is a tip of the iceberg, illegal poaching in California is a huge major problem from fur, fin and feather. Callous hunters with total disregard for hunting laws and are caught poaching should be (and hopefully) severely prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. No slap on the wrist jail time but hard labor to fit this horrendous crime. Personally, a good whipping with twenty lashes against the back would suffice nicely...thank you!
I hope the park press release had a typo. If they were really using GIS, not just GPS, they're way more sophisticated than other poachers.
Alas, poaching is a problem for many National Park units: even plants in Saguaro and along the Blueridge Parkway. There's still low-level subsistence poaching, but also more sophisticated trophy poaching like this (& the salt & feeding stations to lure big game just out of YELL and GRTE), and large scale commercial poaching.
Evel Knievel was once a hunting guide and apparently guaranteed trophy elk. His technique was to guide hunters into Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
Chad made mistakes but, it was his Honesty and cooperation with the authorities that led to the multitude of charges. There are a number of maps for yosemite. On one map he would be legal and the other not. everyone of Mr. Geirlichs' kills were border line. there was no criminal elemant to the crime. once again the authorities with no compassion threw him to the wolves. Not to mention the lynchmob.
the nonsense printed on this message board was disturbing!! what kind of a hostile enviroment is it fostering? its obvious the type of people who dont stand by what they have to say remain anonymous. hey no slap on the wrist until its your loved ones. you ever think about there families?
I'm curious as hell. Which map of Yosemite shows it legal to hunt? These dudes knew exactly where they were hunting and how many laws they were breaking. With firearms now allowed in national parks, I hope the word gets out---------NO HUNTING or get busted.
GPS doesn't add a whole lot to the hunt beyond normal navigation.
GIS is much more likely to be mentioned and a lot more useful during the hunt. This can be done with readily available software and a simple drone.