Louisiana Hunting Show Star Sentenced In Kemmerer For Elk Violations
A Louisiana resident and star of a reality hunting television show pleaded guilty in a Kemmerer court to intentionally allowing an antlerless elk go to waste and an additional charge of taking an elk without the proper license, according to a news release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Billy A. Busbice, Jr., of Olla, La., and star of "Wildgame Nation" on the Outdoor Channel, entered the pleas before Lincoln County Circuit Court Judge Frank Zebre on May 23, according to the news release from the department's Green River Office.
Zebre sentenced Busbice to 180 days of jail suspended, providing that he lead a law-abiding life during one-and-a-half years of unsupervised probation.
The judge ordered him to pay the maximum fines for both violations and the maximum in restitution for the illegal take of both elk for a total of $23,000.
Zebre also revoked all of Busbice's game and fish license privileges for 2017 and 2018. Because Wyoming is part of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, this revocation applies in 45 states, including his home state of Louisiana.
The case started Oct. 16 when hunters told Kemmerer Game Warden Chris Baird they saw a possible wildlife violation on the Spring Creek Ranch, which is owned by Busbice, on La Barge Creek.
They saw a man hunting and a younger man with a video camera appearing to film a herd. The hunter shot one elk, presumably a cow, and then shot a bull. They saw the two walk to look at the bull and then leave.
Another man came, field-dressed the bull and hauled it away with a backhoe, Baird said. “The hunters told me the first elk, which was later determined to be a cow, still lay in the meadow after the man had taken the bull away with the backhoe."
On Oct. 17, Baird met with Busbice, who admitted to accidentally killing a calf elk while trying to harvest the large bull.
After the sun set, Busbice said he told the ranch manager and the cameraman to drag the carcass to an irrigation ditch to conceal it. They made no attempt to field-dress or preserve the meat.
The cameraman and the ranch manager corroborated Busbice's story.
“Mr. Busbice told me they had been filming the elk hunt to feature on his reality TV hunting show,” Baird said.
Busbice admitted that he did not call Baird because he was concerned about having recently been cited for previous wildlife violations.
In 2016, Busbice was cited for false oath for purchasing a resident general elk license as a nonresident and purchasing more than the authorized number of deer licenses. He paid $1,430 in fines for those violations.
Anyone with information on a wildlife violation may call the Game and Fish Department's stop poaching hotline at 1-877-WGFD-TIP (1-877-943-3847).