Joshua Peterson killed approximately 40 deer with a rifle in the famed Boone and Crockett Capital of the whitetail world – Buffalo County, Wisconsin. His sentence: 45 days in jail, $3,700 in fines, and the loss of all hunting and DNR privileges for 6 years. Based off other’s opinions on the original news report and my own, this guy got off way too easy.
Buffalo County, Wisconsin has the most trophy buck entries in North America.
In order to illustrate the leniency of the law in regards to natural resource violations in the state of Wisconsin I broke down Peterson’s punishment on a per deer basis.
-
Peterson got fined $92/deer.
-
This is $68 less than what it costs a non-resident to legally hunt in Wisconsin. Not only that, this is Buffalo County we are talking about where practically the whole county practices QDM and surely some of the victim deer were the dreams of local hunters.
-
Buffalo County is a premiere destination for whitetail hunters across the country, many of which pay nearly the fine amount of $3,700 just for a chance at a trophy whitetail.
-
-
45 days in jail – that’s basically 1 day per every illegally killed deer.
-
6 years of no DNR privileges – this includes all hunting, fishing, and other access to Wisconsin’s natural resources. That’s the equivalent of one year of revoked hunting privileges per 7 deer illegally shot.
All in all, those add up to a pretty light sentencing for a young man who only killed for the thrill. Yes, that’s right, he shot from his truck and let them lay. What a shame. What a waste.
What are your thoughts? Should we be pushing towards stricter penalties for game violations?
