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A Tacoma man described as "one of the largest illegal wildlife traffickers in Washington state history" was sentenced Friday to 30 days of community service and 60 days' home detention for selling deer, elk and sturgeon in violation of state law.Bona Bunphoath, 46, previously pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree unlawful trafficking in fish and wildlife.Bunphoath was arrested in 2012 after investigators with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife learned he was illegally dealing in wild game and set up a sting to catch him, court records show.Fish and Wildlife detective Todd Vandivert, now retired, wrote a letter to the court in November detailing his investigation of Bunphoath.Vandivert said he and his partner, over the course of 19 months, bought 10 whole elk carcasses and three deer from Bunphoath and sold him one deer. The going price for an elk was $600, with deer going for $200-$250, court records show."Additionally, Mr. Bunphoath sold or coordinated the sale of 11 sturgeon," Vandivert said in his letter. "As you can guess, we were not Mr. Bunphoath's only customers, and as a matter of fact, he several times told us he had many customers for his illegal fish and wildlife and had no problem selling animals to others."Investigators believe many of the animals were harvested out of season by people in the Yakima area and sold to Bunphoath, who then resold them."I assure the court Mr. Bunphoath was fully aware of just how illegal the sale of deer and elk is in Washington," Vandivert said. "I think it goes without saying that Mr. Bunphoath is one of the largest illegal wildlife traffickers in Washington state history (if not the single largest), and his activities have had a tremendous adverse impact to the wildlife populations of our state."

The judge, citing Bunphoath's "spirit of cooperation" in working with authorities and "the cultural issue at play," agreed to sentence Bunphoath as a first-time offender but gave him 90 days instead of 30.She converted 30 days to community service but ruled Bunphoath could serve the remaining 60 days on electronic home monitoring.
 
Less people are huntimg because the license and tag fees are too high.

Some are giving up hunting because elk / deer populations are way down (in NE Oregon), which then restricts tag numbers, which in turn means reduced chances of drawing a tag. Elk and deer populations are down in part due to Oregon voters (Willamette Valley voters, I mean) having put through a ban on hunting bear and cougars with dogs. Now wolves are present as well, and with elk/deer numbers still declining, generally, fewer people will either not apply for a tag, or not get a tag. Add to that the rising cost of food and gas (and licenses and tags), and people quit.

Or, if they're dumb like me, they'll keep blindly applying every year for a big bull tag (I have 13 points = 13 years of not drawing), and then even maybe spend money on those stupid tag raffles (which is another source of revenue for ODFW).
 
We won't have to worry about hunting much longer in Oregon. What is there to hunt? Here in Douglas county it's becoming rare to see Deer anymore outside of City deer and around country homesteads.
I drive the BLM roads often, and seldom ever see game of any kind.

What I do see is, clear cuts that have been sprayed to kill all natural vegetation until Fir seedlings can be planted. They don't allow hardwood trees and grasses to reproduce. Wildlife will not survive without browse, nuts and berries to feed on. I for one would like to see studies by our great wildlife department to see what other effects this poison has on the wildlife. Especially the deer and Elk herds. Could it be affecting the reproduction rate of the wildlife? Something dang sure is, and I don't buy the poaching BS they give us. Poachers have always been around, and we still had game.Cougars are a bigger problem because of poor management laws imposed on us, but I can't believe they are the only problem.
We have way less people hunting , but less game..........GO FIGURE!

It would appear the Department of Fish and Wildlife is doing more for big timber companies than they are for wildlife and those of us who would pursue them.We pay more for our hunting and fishing license's and have less to show for it, than any other state in the Union.
 
:)ok lets stir the pot up a little more.
I am in no way in favor of educated bureaucrats running anything.
First off you have to stop killing fawns and yearlings.
Then your going to have to wait 3 to 5 years for the herd to reach a good mature size, once the herd is stable you have to be able to control yourself and shoot only mature animals(elk 5 to 7 years)( deer 3 to five years) not many out there are going to go for that.
Then you have the cost of insurance, liability, and of coarse we can't forget the lawyers once you factor in the over head of just these items your going to see higher costs, then add in the pers factor, and just plain stupidity and you have Oregon.
White tail hunters figured this out years ago and they have some of the best managed deer herds in the world, this includes both mule and white tail animals.
Now all of the above seems real hard to swallow, but the biggest problem of all is that 70% of everyone around you are still electing the same old liars, thugs, corrupted people to public office, they might have a different name ( except Kitzhopper) but they come from the same cesspool of corruption, and have no moral character.
IMO
 
:)ok lets stir the pot up a little more.
I am in no way in favor of educated bureaucrats running anything.
First off you have to stop killing fawns and yearlings.
Then your going to have to wait 3 to 5 years for the herd to reach a good mature size, once the herd is stable you have to be able to control yourself and shoot only mature animals(elk 5 to 7 years)( deer 3 to five years) not many out there are going to go for that.
Then you have the cost of insurance, liability, and of coarse we can't forget the lawyers once you factor in the over head of just these items your going to see higher costs, then add in the pers factor, and just plain stupidity and you have Oregon.
White tail hunters figured this out years ago and they have some of the best managed deer herds in the world, this includes both mule and white tail animals.
Now all of the above seems real hard to swallow, but the biggest problem of all is that 70% of everyone around you are still electing the same old liars, thugs, corrupted people to public office, they might have a different name ( except Kitzhopper) but they come from the same cesspool of corruption, and have no moral character.
IMO

I agree we cannot kill off our doe and fawns, Cows and Calf's and expect to see an increase in our deer and elk populations. Also...What's good for one part of the state isn't necessarily good for another. Here on the West side we have an entirely different problem than on the east side.Managing Blacktail deer is totally different than Whitetail. We don't have the feed plots like they do back east, and the whitetail are not as elusive as the forest Blacktail.

The Whitetail back east are almost farm raised anymore and then harvested. You cannot do the same with Blacktail. What we can do is provide habitat for them. Natural vegetation they no longer have because of forestry practices. The East side of the state is a different scenario with wide open country for the Mule Deer and Rocky Mountain Elk. The brows and graze there is still available for them.
The big problem now facing them is predation, and instead of doing something about it, they are doing the opposite. Like introducing the wolf. Not being able to hunt the big Cats with dogs.

One big difference in our Game Department and other states is, They (The hunters and other outdoors men) Elect the people who are in charge of managing wildlife. Ours are Bureaucrats. They don't answer to us.And they durn sure don't listen either.
 
Boycott the ODFW.
Send them a message by not buying any tags/license for a couple of years.
Their budget depends on your hard earned money, don't give it to them until they change their game management plan, one that makes sense and works, or, better yet, hunt in another state that has more game.
 
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Boycott the ODFW.
Send them a message by not buying any tags/license for a couple of years.
Their budget depends on your hard earned money, don't give it to them until they change their game management plan, one that makes sense and works, or, better yet, hunt in another state that has more game.

You would have to have a hundred percent boycott to do any good, If that worked! Hunters have been boycotting them . The huge drop in sales of Lic. show it. How many people do you think could afford to hunt in another state? That is not the answer IMO. Every hunter should write their Reps. Both state and Federal about it, and do it often. Also....Never vote for anyone remotely hostile to hunters and the second amendment. JMHO!;)
 
If you still think that ODFW is interested in the resource, you have been standing out in the sun too long!
As soon as they can get 100% of their funding from the General Fund they won't need to accommodate hunters and fishermen. It will then be snail darters . . . wolves . . . cougars . . . etc.

Sheldon
 
They have to pay for that multi-million dollar building they recently had built in Salem near the airport. No idea why they had to do that. Not only did they buy a new building, they bought millions of dollars of new office furniture and left behind the furniture in the old Fish and Wildlife building on the Parkway in Salem. Total crap our money is being spent this way.

I know one person who never buys a fishing license. He gets busted on average every five years. The cost of the fine is less than the cost of five years of licenses. I have to wonder if hunting wouldn't work out the same way. I can't remember the last time I was checked for a license or a tag in the unit I get to hunt every three or four years.
 
I have some 400 plus dollars spent thus far on my family's tags, licensing, draw hunts etc.... That's before stepping out one day to hunt or travel or camp or....

Who's animals are these anyway? They "belong" to the government until one steps out on to the roadway and causes thousands of dollars in damages to your car.... huh... Odd.

I'm personally getting sick of hundreds after hundreds just for chances to hunt if they say so.

Is there no law for subsistence hunting In Oregon? One should have the RIGHT to provide food for self and family without being forced to trade paper for processed meat, no?
It's all in there plan. Oregon wants to shut down hunting. Period.
 
It's all in there plan. Oregon wants to shut down hunting. Period.
Fewer hunters means less animals needing managed. What is is left will be raffled off or sold to the highest bidder. It's already taking place.
Is there no law for subsistence hunting In Oregon?
No. You cannot hunt a game animal without a license and tag.
 
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Oregon
Department of
Failure and
Waste.

They manage people and money not wildlife sillyheads!!!

Overpopulaton of predators, both 4 legged and 2 legged.
 
Have any of you 'out there' actually talked to an ODFW employee lately? Do
tell your experience please.
A few years back. Talked about bear areas and where to locate more of them. Then brought my skull in. They are nice folks. But, there's a difference between a field agent, and a decision maker at the top. Those at the top answer to the libs.
 

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