# NC sting gone wrong -- Channel 2 news, Thursday



## The Longhunter (Apr 21, 2014)

Channel 2 in Atlanta is going to do an expose on the NC bear sting on Thurs.  They have three shows, 4,5,and 6 so I don't know when it will be one.  Will try to keep and ear out.


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## Duff (Apr 24, 2014)

5:00pm


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## rhbama3 (Apr 24, 2014)

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hope this video uploads right.


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## lagrangedave (Apr 24, 2014)

Sounds like entrapment to me. Who placed the officers above the law?


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 24, 2014)

It's starting to come back on 'em now. They had a segment on the news here tonight about it, too. I live in one of the counties that was hardest hit by this thing.


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## Gadestroyer74 (Apr 24, 2014)

That's some dirty business right there.. I know there are good wardens but there also a lot of dirty ones too


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Apr 24, 2014)

In the end, this will have done more harm to the reputation of the DNR and the population of bears than the good it was intended to do.


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## GoldDot40 (Apr 24, 2014)

That whole operation stinks to high Heaven. I hope these guys are able to clear their names. Any of them members here?


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## emusmacker (Apr 25, 2014)

Well that just sucks.  The wardens didn't have to kill the bear.  I do think that the wardens have a right to "protect their identity" in undercover cases.  But for that guy to shoot  the bear when he was alone was wrong.

But then I guess on the flip side, the father and son could have said NOPE it's illegal to kill a bear over bait.  so in reality the officer and the father and son should face charges. But the father/son should not be charged with killing the bear.  

I also think that the 2 officers should be punished if they really did kill the bears.  

But one question I have and din't see in the newscast, what about the other 7 illegally killed bears.  LEO's didn't shoot them, where are the charges on them.


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## emusmacker (Apr 25, 2014)

Not saying this is the case but many times the attitude of the person being arrested or "investigated" will dictate the outcome.

i know alot of guys that make smart aleck remarks to the wardens when being checked, that usually results in tickets.


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## blackk93coupe (Apr 26, 2014)

Read More at: http://www.wlos.com/shared/news/fea...t-operation-something-bruin-15950.shtml?wap=0 

Read More at: http://www.wlos.com/shared/news/fea...t-operation-something-bruin-15950.shtml?wap=0


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## The mtn man (Apr 26, 2014)

How many bears did the GWs shoot? I was under the assumption, they shot 6 out of the 10. Does anyone know the truth?


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## emusmacker (Apr 27, 2014)

I see the same theme mentioned here on this forum that is also mentioned in some of the facebook comments.  That ALL LEO is bad and criminals?  Really?  That's just like me saying that all bear hunters are poachers and criminals. Even a moderator has pretty much called out leo's.  That's just simple minded thinking.  Just because 1 officer may be "corrupt", certainly doesn't mean that all are.

I particularly loike the comment from the guy with the dumb comments about bringing in the malitia.  What a moron.  

If the warden did do something wrong, then he should pay for it, but I'm not so immature as to claim or insinuate that all LEO's are bad.  Most do their jobs and take pride in it, if you get caught then blame YOU not them.  
Dang is it that hard.  I got stopped for speeding, does that mean that all cops are bad, NO.

I don't agree with some of the laws, but I have to obey them, and if I get caught, it's MY fault.

We were discussing this the other day and talking about how some wardens kept harassing the hunters to take them hunting even tho they(hunters) knew it was wrong, and they finally gave in.  I said all the hunters had to repeatedly say was NO.  Even the 2 guys in one of the videos admitted that the guy wanted to kill a bear sooooo bad that they dropped him off at the Bait station with the intentions of him killing a bear.  All they had to say was, nope and then go on. But instead they gave in.  That doesn't excue what they officers did, but those guys were still wrong for giving in.  No one made those hunters take the undercover leos hunting/poaching.  they caved in and did it.


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## emusmacker (Apr 27, 2014)

cklem said:


> How many bears did the GWs shoot? I was under the assumption, they shot 6 out of the 10. Does anyone know the truth?



who would really know?  i mean do we believe everything we see printed in the newspaper?  I remember the olympic bombing in Attlanta, and a certain man was accused by the media, turned out he was innocent, but the papers swore he was guilty.  so cklem, who would really know?  Just asking.


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## rhbama3 (Apr 27, 2014)

Ten sentenced in four-year, bear-hunting sting
North Carolina Sportsman - June 18, 2013

Ten defendants were sentenced on Monday, June 10, in U.S. District Court in Bryson City for illegal hunting activities involving black bears and other wildlife and related offenses uncovered by “Operation Something Bruin,” an initiative involving agencies of the federal government and wildlife agencies in North Carolina and Georgia.

Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced the sentences in a press conference last Friday.


This past February, state and federal wildlife officials in North Carolina and Georgia announced the results of a four-year undercover investigation focused on illegal activities involving black bears and other wildlife in North Carolina and Georgia. It resulted in more than 80 wildlife violators and over 980 violations including illegal bear hunting and poaching in North Carolina and Georgia, but also an array of state and federal wildlife and game law charges.


The following defendants were sentenced on June 10, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell:


* Chad Burchfield, 34, of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to one count of hunting feral swine at night. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison. In addition, Judge Howell revoked Burchfield’s right to hunt or fish for a period of two years, and ordered the defendant to pay a $10.00 assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee.



* Patrick Burchfield, 24, of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to one count of hunting feral swine at night. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison and ordered to pay a $10.00 assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee. In addition, the defendant’s right to hunt or fish was revoked for a period of two years.



* Jessie Jenkins, 23, of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to hunting feral swine at night. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison, was ordered to pay a $10.00 assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee and is prohibited from hunting or fishing for a period of two years.



* Kenneth Collins, 44, of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to providing a hunting guide service on National Forest land without a permit. Judge Howell sentenced Collins to 30 days in prison. He was also ordered to pay a $10.00 special assessment fee, a $25.00 administrative fee and restitution of $450.00 to the U.S. Forest Service. Collins’ hunting and fishing rights were also revoked for a period of two years.



* Casey Collins, 26 of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to two counts of providing a hunting guide service on National Forest land without a permit. He was sentenced to 15 days in prison and was ordered to pay a $10.00 special assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee. His hunting and fishing rights were revoked for a period of two years.



* Michael Sellers, 20, of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to one count of providing a hunting service without a permit. He was sentenced to one year of probation and was ordered to surrender his hunting license.  

* Ricky Owens, 48, of Robbinsville, pleaded guilty to one count of failure to obtain a special use permit needed to operate a commercial activity on National Forest land. He was sentenced to 15 days in prison and was ordered to pay a $10.00 special assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee.  

* Robert Watson, 46, of Morganton, pleaded guilty to one count of aid and abet the illegal taking of a black bear. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison and was ordered to pay a $10.00 special assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee.  

* Terry Ratliff, 55, of Opelica, Ala., was ordered to pay a collateral of $1,500 for driving on a closed U.S. Forest Service Road.   

* Brian Quacca, 41, of Groesbeck, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of using the National Forest Service for commercial purposes without the required permit. On May 25, he was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $1,500.00. In addition, he was ordered to pay a $10.00 special assessment fee and a $25.00 administrative fee.


On June 10, Brent Fox, of Morganton, entered a plea of guilty to one count of illegal taking of a black bear and is awaiting sentencing.


The defendants committed the offenses in the Nantahala National Forest, with the exception of Watson, who committed his offense in the Pisgah National Forest.

Some mighty harsh sentences for what they pled guilty to.


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## JustUs4All (Apr 28, 2014)

I guess those littering charges were dropped too.


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## lbzdually (Apr 28, 2014)

They caught the pigman Brian Quacca from Texas?  I'm guessing he filmed a hunt there without asking the King (USFS)  if the peasants could film and absent of doing anything else, they slapped a $1500 fine on him.


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## lbzdually (Apr 28, 2014)

Yep, Googled it and that's what he did.  How dare he hunt and film on the King's land without paying the royal fee.


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## squirreldoghunter (Apr 28, 2014)

Pigman's charges were just for not having a commercial filming permit, which is completely asinine IMO. I've heard of other cases where folks who were clearly NOT filming or taking photos for commercial reasons were detained, harassed, charged, and had camera gear confiscated. This kind of governmental heavy-handedness needs to stop, like yesterday.  

_Last week, Quaca explained his side of the circumstances surrounding the charges on his Facebook page to his fans, supporters and sponsors.

"Back in October of 2011 during Season 3, we filmed a bear hunt in North Carolina with a friend of a friend. Bottom line is that the area in which we were hunting came across a section of National Forest Ground of which we unknowingly filmed without a filming permit. It was an honest mistake on my part and I take full responsibility for myself and my team. We cooperated fully with Federal Game Wardens to provide them all video footage and on May 14th of this year, I plead guilty to filming in a National Park without a filming permit and paid a $1,500 fine. Despite the fact that I had my tag and license, and the fact that my hunting ethics were 100% in line with North Carolina law, I failed to obtain the required permit. No matter how big of a production company you have, or how many people you have researching rules and regulations, we're all still capable of making honest mistakes and this is one that I hope everyone can learn from. More importantly, when you make a mistake, own up to it and cooperate. - PIG"_


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## emusmacker (Apr 28, 2014)

Well at least he owned up to it.  

I do believe that some of them may have been "honest" mistakes.  But for people that live there and hunt there all the time, should know better.  

Whatever happened to those wardens that broke the law?


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## emusmacker (Apr 29, 2014)

I ask this in all seriousness?  Should there be any laws in this country?  game laws?  Why or why not?


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## emusmacker (Apr 30, 2014)

Dang.  No response?  I figured that those that are constantly bashing LEO's would come up with a few reasons.


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## Budda (Apr 30, 2014)

emusmacker said:


> I ask this in all seriousness?  Should there be any laws in this country?  game laws?  Why or why not?



I am surprised one member on here in particular ain't posted about how dumb an careless an unethical an tunnel visioned law officers are which is why there shouldn't be any laws cause he don't want folks to step on his "god given rights" and blah blah blah.  

I personally like laws and law enforcement.  I ain't to keen on Leo's decisions sometimes but that's what a judge is for.  I been in a few instances where I was dead wrong an owned it while twice I felt I was right and went to court.  Won both but only because I seen it a different way then the Leo did.  Not that he was wrong in his way of deductive reasoning.


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## emusmacker (Apr 30, 2014)

Yea me too.  I had a similar run in with a warden that I was cleared of.  He was very unprofessional and didn't do his job the right way.  But that doesn't mean that EVERY warden is like that.  the same folks that cry and complain about leo's are the first to call em when they need help with something.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Apr 30, 2014)

What is it they say about lawyers?  97% give the other 3% a bad name.


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## The mtn man (Apr 30, 2014)

emusmacker said:


> Yea me too.  I had a similar run in with a warden that I was cleared of.  He was very unprofessional and didn't do his job the right way.  But that doesn't mean that EVERY warden is like that.  the same folks that cry and complain about leo's are the first to call em when they need help with something.



I agree, I'v met some real jerks, and I'v had run ins with some GW that were great. The whole thing with this matter is some of the tactics used. There is no doubt if you do the crime you should pay the price I think we can all agree with that, when you put a face on some of these guys that were charged it's a little different, no doubt some were guilty as the day is long, but some were just taken advantage of because of their good nature, I know some are gonna laugh at that but it's true, and I won't go into detail as to why that is. The reason some folks are up in arms about this around here, (which is where it took place), is because we all know they didn't even target the real poachers, it's almost comical to us that they claim they broke up a poaching ring. They would have never ever got inside of the real poachers group like they did these guys that were just going along with whatever their new friend (GW) was doing. The real poachers would have told him to take a hike if he asked them to go hunting with them. I don't see any real covert detective work here. Believe me there are some serious poachers in this area, the guys charged are not the ones though, millions of $$$ wasted IMO.By the way all this talk about selling bear parts, I don't believe any of that took place, as I understand the GWs offered to sale parts but noone partook, if you dig deep you will see that was nipped in the bud here during the 1980s. That is why undercover agents will never penetrate these groups that are really doing the poaching, lesson has already been learned. The only way they could pull that off would be to have a local cross over.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (May 1, 2014)

The Longhunter said:


> Channel 2 in Atlanta is going to do an expose on the NC bear sting on Thurs.  They have three shows, 4,5,and 6 so I don't know when it will be one.  Will try to keep and ear out.



Thanks for the heads up on the story, Longhunter. 

Appreciate you embedding the video news report rhbama3. 

Sure does sound like some questionable activities.



Here's the related written news article for this story at the web link below:  



http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/poaching-investigation-under-fire-hunters-charged-/nfgz5/ 

*Poaching investigation under fire: Hunters charged for bears that officers killed*

Posted: 11:17 a.m. Thursday, April 24, 2014 

"*Georgia's Department of Natural Resources* and *North Carolina's Wildlife Resources Commission* first announced the results of *Operation Something Bruin* in February 2013" 

"two main officers involved were each named Officer of the Year in their respective states" 

"Officers touted 10 bears killed" 

"Records show three bears killed by the hunters, three bears killed by the officers, and in the last case multiple shots fired at once mean it's impossible to tell whose bullet wounded the bear." 



9-Photos at the web link below & I'll embed the 1st pic:  

http://www.wsbtv.com/gallery/news/local/operation-something-bruin/gCKPX/#5154654










AND 


http://www.georgiawildlife.com/node/3220

*Undercover Wildlife Operation Cracks Down on Poaching in N.C., Ga.*

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (2/20/2013)

Multi-agency Operation Something Bruin Documents Scores of Violations 


"State and federal wildlife officials in *North Carolina* and *Georgia* announced an undercover operation today that involved about *80 wildlife violators* and some *980 violations*."







AND 


http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2013/007.html

Undercover Wildlife Operation Cracks Down on Poaching in North Carolina, Georgia
Multi-Agency Operation Something Bruin Charging More Than 80 Violators

February 20, 2013


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