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View Full Version : Crittenden County Man Arrested, Charged w/ Shooting Turkey over Bait & Out of Season


Finn209
04-12-2005, 11:16 AM
Kentucky Commerce Cabinet News Release

Crittenden County Man Arrested, Charged with

Shooting Turkey over Bait and Out of Season

April 12, 2005
Contact: Mark Marraccini

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(800) 852-0942.310

Frankfort, KY - Crittenden County Wildlife and Boating Officer Randy Conway
had heard the rumors for several months.

A poacher was shooting turkeys from a cabin, over bait and out of season.
Last week, he confirmed the rumors.

"I asked my sergeant, Ron Haywood, to take me in there and drop me off,"
said Conway. "I found the cabin. I found the bait. And then I found 12 to 15
carcasses scattered through the area - one of them fresh, only one or two
days old." So he stepped up his watch, and last week it paid off.

After making several trips and seeing no activity at the site, he returned
again and watched a gobbler strutting near the bait. This time there was a
truck parked at the cabin.

"I went and hid my truck at an old barn and walked back in," he said. " I
set up and watched. After I had been watching about two hours, a man stepped
out on the porch and shot the bird."

Conway arrested Will Bushart, 68, of Marion, KY, and charged him in
Crittenden District Court with shooting a turkey over bait, hunting out of
season, and illegal take. Each of the three charges carries a penalty of up
to $1,000 in fine, a year in jail, loss of hunting privileges, and court
costs.

Conway seized a 12 gauge Browning BPS 3 ½-inch-chambered shotgun and the
poached 25-pound gobbler at the scene. Bushart has a court date scheduled
for April 20 in front of Crittenden District Judge Tommy Simpson.

-30-

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) manages,
regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife
species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit
of those resources and for public enjoyment. KDFWR, an agency of the
Commerce Cabinet, has an economic impact to the state of $4.8 billion
annually. For more information on KDFWR, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.

nutcase
04-12-2005, 12:00 PM
Great job KDFWR keep up the good work and thanks

SixPack07
04-12-2005, 12:18 PM
Good to see the bad get caught!

cobbhunts
04-12-2005, 01:25 PM
Great job! Keep it up.

Valley Station
04-12-2005, 01:55 PM
Great work. Those with corn piles shooting out of their house or deck are tough to catch. It's a shame this outlaw doesn't get charged for replacent of the 10 to 15 turkeys found laying around the bait sight!
With legal deer corn baiting law in Kentucky, there is no telling how many turkey we are losing to these outlaws.

RutNBuck
04-12-2005, 02:30 PM
Congrats to the officer.
makes ya wonder how many idiots do this and never get caught

skin_dog1
04-12-2005, 02:42 PM
Way to go!

buckfever
04-12-2005, 03:03 PM
Hang him high!

Roost em 1st
04-12-2005, 04:33 PM
Seems like they should increase the fines. At least enough to pay for the time spent by the LEO's involved. The minimum should be 1,000 per violation. Its expensive to have a man out there bringing these nitwits to justice.


Way to go to the officer!!

KyLongbeard
04-12-2005, 04:41 PM
Way to go officer!!!!!!!!

P. Beyer
04-12-2005, 06:41 PM
Awesome, Glad he got caught..........

My Livingston Co farm ain't too far from the crittenden Co line. I hope they lock em' up and toss the key in the trash....

One Question, was he at least eating the Turkeys?

Gobblergetter2.1
04-12-2005, 07:19 PM
Good to hear he got caught. Killing turkeys out of season from a car over bait... thats a bad combination!!! And if he was shooting hens....

turk2di
04-12-2005, 08:55 PM
Throw the entire law library book at him!

creekdawgg
04-12-2005, 09:05 PM
Glad to have CO's like Randy out in the feild

Grant
04-12-2005, 10:10 PM
Conway has checked me on numerous times waterfowl hunting, and I will likely run into him this turkey season. Lots of guys are complaining about him...he must be doing his job!!

Ditch-Crawler
04-13-2005, 01:12 PM
While I agree with most of these posts, the officer is actually doing his job. He shouldn't get extra pay. And just think, without these types, there would be no need for such an honorable job such as a Game Warden.

Roost em 1st
04-13-2005, 01:37 PM
While I agree with most of these posts, the officer is actually doing his job. He shouldn't get extra pay. And just think, without these types, there would be no need for such an honorable job such as a Game Warden.


I can only presume you are referring to my post in regards to pay higher fines. I wasn't expecting the officer to get this money, rather the department to offset incurred expenses. That man and his truck cost quite a bit per day. How many miles and hours were logged to catch this guy? Maybe $3,000 is enough, maybe it ain't.