Original: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/19/1384699/id-fish-and-game-director-gets.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+IdahostatesmancomIdahoOutdoors+(IdahoStatesman.com+Idaho+Outdoors)

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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho's fish and game chief said he made a mistake when he crossed on to private property with three hunting companions earlier this month without first getting permission.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game Director Cal Groen said he has also learned a valuable lesson from the Oct. 10 episode.

Groen told the Lewiston Tribune he assumed his companions had permission to access the property in north-central Idaho near Elk City.

"Obviously I was wrong," Groen told the Associated Press Tuesday. "You have a personal responsibility to make sure you've got permission. I was on that land and did not have permission."

Groen, 63, has been charged with trespass to hunt in violation of warning signs, a misdemeanor. Groen maintains he was not hunting, and instead crossed on to the land to help his companions butcher a pair of elk. He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 10.

Groen said his hunting partners had permission to access the property in previous years and the group was unaware that the land had changed ownership. Despite acknowledging his mistake, Groen said he is unsure how he will plead in court.

"It's important to let the legal process go on here," he said.

On Tuesday, the Idaho County Sheriff Department cited three others in the case.

Ronald D. Halsey, 65, and Thomas L. Hill, 50, both of Lewiston, were each cited for possession of a game animal taken on private property. Randy J. Thornton, of Clarkston, Wash., was cited for criminal trespass.

Investigators said Groen's party was cooperative and that several items, including four- and five-point antlers, were taken into evidence.

The man who now leases the property, Earl Sherrer, told the Lewiston Tribune he had painted a number of fence posts blaze orange, a legal and common practice among landowners to send a signal to hunters that a property is off limits without permission.

Sherrer also said the hunting party appeared to have entered the back side of the land through a gate amid several of the painted posts.


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