Bandit "guides" are getting caught - finally.

[Dand]

This spring we have had two big illegal guiding cases announced - in the Mulchatna / Bristol Bay area. I was really saddened by the first one as the same group had been instrumental in catching some fishing guides who had been threatening other fishermen with guns quite a few years ago. Still, shooting cow moose from airplanes just for bear bait is terrible. In the Bristol Bay area, moose hunting is critical for winter food for a lot of residents. There have been a lot of special regulations adopted and a lot of political heat all about moose. It can get very emotional.  Wolves have been blamed and ARE more numerous than in the past; same for bears.  But I'm really angered to learn of these outlaw guides really adding to the problem. They have been stealing from everybody, including their own clients. And really making a bad name for all guides.

This makes me REALLY mad. I have sat through a whole bunch of meetings from Dillingham to Igiugig to King Salmon and other villages. I sit on the Dillingham Fish and Game advisory committee and the Bristol Bay federal subsistence advisory counsel. We have wrangled and struggled to find ways to assure more moose, to push agencies to control predators, and to find fair regulations for everybody. These @#$%^$%%$$### bandits screw the whole program for all the honest folks. IF just a few of these moose had been taken by local villagers they would have provided a lot of needed meat and made a lot of people happy. It rips my guts to learn this stuff.  The number of violations alleged are staggering.

Folks if you are hiring a guide in Alaska, it is wise to independently verify they are licensed by the state. There are scoundrels out there advertising as guides who are totally illegal - likely in the second case below.

Here is a snippet of the first big case.  The second case was announced on our local radio, KDLG, but hasn't made the state newspapers yet.

Guide shot moose to bait bears, prosecutors say
30 COUNTS: Tracking device on his plane led troopers to carcasses.
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com
Published: May 15th, 2010 10:51 PM
Last Modified: May 15th, 2010 10:51 PM
For years, hunters at the Newhalen Lodge in Nondalton have had good chances of bagging a grizzly. Big game guide Fred E. Sims' tactics ensured it, authorities say.

Prosecutors say a seven-year investigation into Sims' activities -- replete with kill-site stakeouts, covertly installed tracking devices and electronic surveillance -- revealed that the guide systematically killed moose by air and left their carcasses to rot, creating impromptu bait stations so his clients would have easy shots at brown bears.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers investigated a total of 18 moose carcasses associated with Sims' hunts since 2003, according to court documents. Fish and Game records showed that he successfully guided 26 brown bear hunters from 1998 to 2009.

Sims, 45, was charged in Dillingham court Thursday with 30 counts of wildlife violations ranging from wanton waste and taking moose in a closed season to using game as bait and unlawful methods of taking game.

According to charging documents filed in court by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson, Sims runs his guide business out of the Newhalen Lodge, which is owned by his father, William Sims.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/05/14/1278536/successful-but-cheating-guide.html#ixzz0rVxA4uTz

AND

4 Men Charged With 38 Felony And Misdemeanor Charges 2 years After Allegedly Illegal Moose and Bear Hunt 06/17/10

2 Dillingham men and 2 other men from Washington and Minnesota have been charge with a total of 38 Class C Felony and Class A Misdemeanor Fish and Game criminal offenses stemming from an allegedly illegally guided Moose and Bear Hunt that took place in the Fall of 2008. KDLG’s Adam Kane has this report… (3:22)
http://www.kdlg.org/news/archive.php?id=678

[S.E.Ak]

This sucks too
http://www.adn.com/2010/06/19/1331830/fundraising-fishery-angers-sportfishing.html

I do feel the biggest predator we need to thin out in Alaska is the people growth in the greater Los Anchorage area

[Dand]

SE - did you see that ADFG stopped that fishery?  I think the political heat was too intense to continue.

[Grumulkin]

Where would you check to see if a guide is legit?

[Siskiyou]

Dand:  Interesting post, thanks!

[S.E.Ak]

See if this works

http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/occ/GuiUseReg.cfm

[Dand]

I think SE AK has it right for checking licensed guides. Also you could call the Ak Fish and Game office in the area you hope to hunt and see if they know of any guide you plan to hire - see what they say. But they don't always know all the operators in an area.

One of the main characters in the Dillingham area (second story)  bust has been busted for insurance fraud or embezzling (not sure which) and did felony time for it. Yet apparently had printed cards saying he was a guide.  Some folks have way more brass than I. I understand you can't be a guide with a felony record.

[Outback101]

Ever have a "Guide" drop one of his clients and guide off and they then try and tell you where you are going to hunt? While they stay in the Forest Service cabin that the client reserved and rented...not the guide.....and while there the guide seems to fly over and check on them often and after a quick chat on the handheld the poor ground straddled guide and client go on with their hunt for the day. Keeline used to and may still provide this excellent service south of Yakatat down around the Tanis Mesa area.

[Sourdough]

There are a lot of good guides that work hard to get their client what they are looking for.  There is also a bunch that like to cheat.  Do your homework, ask the guide for referances.  If he can not, or will not give them, shy away from him.