A father and son from Idaho have been banned from hunting for years and sentenced to jail time after pleading guilty to poaching a grizzly bear near Yellowstone National Park.
The men, Rex Baum, 79, and his son Jared Baum pled guilty to their charges on Friday, according to a release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Rex Baum was charged with a misdemeanor in connection to the female grizzly bear's death last year, and Jared Baum was charged with a felony in connection to the bear's death, according to the release.
Following their plea, Rex Baum was ordered to serve three days in jail and banned from hunting for a decade, while Jared Baum was given a 30-day sentence and banned from hunting for life, the press release said.
Grizzlies in Idaho are federally protected animals, making them illegal to hunt and kill, something that Jared Baum shared he knew.
The bear's carcass was found by Fish and Game officers on April 9, 2021. Officials knew the bear was dead due to its tracking collar signaling it had died. The bear had been shot more than a dozen times, according to X-rays taken after it was found.
The agency shared that officers visited the mother bear's "den site where they discovered a deceased male grizzly cub that perished as a result of the sow's failure to return."
The two men were contacted after a warrant helped the agency receive records of electronic devices that were in the area when the bear had died.
Jared Baum admitted to being the one who shot the bear but claimed he had thought it was a bleak bear, the release said.
"After Jared saw that it was a grizzly, he said he realized he had shot her too many times and she was going to die, so he finished her," officials said.
When he realized the bear was collared, he disposed of the Ruger-57 handguns used to kill the grizzly, tossing them into a nearby pond, the release said.
Both men are now set to serve their time in jail and pay a number of fines for the death of the grizzly.
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