Bighorn Sheep Poacher Sentenced

A Nampa man will spend six months in jail and pay thousands in restitution for poaching a California bighorn sheep in Owyhee County earlier this year. Jake B. Fouts, 21, must pay more than $2,900 in court costs, civil penalties and restitution and, under work release stipulations, spend 180 nights in the Murphy jail. The felony conviction, handed down by District Judge Gregory Culet, also included a lifetime hunting privilege revocation, five years probation and the suspension of Fouts' fishing and trapping privileges for the next five years. Physical evidence and an eyewitness account of the poaching incident led Fouts to plead guilty to the felony charge. Initially, Fouts claimed the .22-caliber bullet that killed the bighorn ewe "must have ricocheted." But when recovered, the bullet was in perfect condition, inconsistent with this claim. Forensic evidence indicated that the bullet fired from Fouts' rifle passed between the ribs of the ewe and across the top of the heart before exiting the chest cavity and lodging in the leg muscle. The pregnant bighorn died instantly. Efforts to reestablish California bighorn sheep in southwest Idaho have been ongoing since as early as 1963. Over several decades, bighorn numbers in the Owyhee Canyonlands area have grown, and sheep have expanded into portions of their historic range, including the Reynolds Creek drainage where the bighorn ewe was poached. A limited hunting season for bighorn rams only is open each year, and the handful of available sheep tags is highly coveted by hunters. Fouts killed the bighorn sheep just off the upper Reynolds Creek Road above Hemmingway Butte on February 21. An eyewitness to the poaching contacted the Owyhee County Sheriff's Office with information relayed to Idaho Fish and Game. A short time later, Fish and Game officer Kurt Stieglitz stopped and arrested Fouts on State Highway 45 just north of Walters Ferry.