Time and again, poachers never seem to get what they deserve. Even in cases with egregious wildlife crimes, securing jail time can be nearly impossible. Every so often though, a district attorney goes for broke in prosecuting a case. Such was the case in Grant County, Oregon, where a 34-year-old man recently received 95 days of jail time, $22,000 in fines, and a lifetime hunting & fishing ban for a slew of poaching incidents spanning the last two years.
Unsurprisingly—as seems to be the case with most chronic poachers—it wasn’t Travis Palmer’s first run-in with the law. In fact, Palmer had already received two lifetime hunting bans prior to the recent conviction. Local Oregon media outlet Blue Mountain Eagle sifted through old court records and reported that Palmer received a two-year hunting ban at 17 years old in 2008, another three-year ban in 2010, a lifetime ban in 2015, and another lifetime revocation in 2023 for poaching a 6×6 bull elk.
Clearly, the punishments had little impact. Within months of his 2023 conviction, Palmer was back in the woods chasing game. That fall, according to an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife press release, Oregon State Police received a tip that he was attempting to poach big-game animals during bow season. Game wardens opened an investigation and ultimately discovered that he had killed a 5×6 elk and a 3×4 mule deer in the Northside hunting district near the town of Mount Vernon. Palmer had spotlighted both animals at night and shot them on the side of a public road with a rifle.
Palmer was arrested and charged on the poaching counts, and his bow, rifle, spotlight, and other hunting gear was confiscated. He was released while awaiting trial—and wouldn’t you know it, he grabbed his fishing gear and headed to the John Day River to wet a line for wild steelhead.
The state troopers were quick to get wind of it, and they set up a surveillance operation on Palmer and his friends for nearly two months, after which, they charged the anglers with 30 angling crimes, including night fishing, which is illegal for salmon, steelhead, and trout in Oregon.
Palmer took a plea deal in court, but was still charged with two felonies—one for each the elk and deer he shot—in addition to nine fish and wildlife-related misdemeanors and a probation violation.
“Palmer is a habitual offender who does not care what restrictions are placed on him,” Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter told the Rogue Valley Times afterward. “He is going to trophy-hunt or fish as he wishes without regard for the law or other people.” MeatEater reached out to Carpenter’s office to obtain game warden affidavits in the case against Palmer, but has yet to receive any documents as of this publication.
In addition to the jail time and fines, Palmer was sentenced to 260 hours of community service. Between jail time and having had his weapons confiscated, Palmer won’t be illegally chasing game anytime soon. But if his past history is any indication, he’ll be back eventually—maybe even for a fourth lifetime ban.
Feature image via Oregon State Police.
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