SW WA Man Sentenced For Illegally Hunting Bears With Hounds In Wahkiakum Co.

A 32-year-old Battle Ground man caught on a cellular trail camera two years ago unlawfully hunting black bears with hounds was sentenced to pay $7,000 in fines and penalties, lost his hunting license for five years and ordered to serve 10 days in jail or home detention by a Wahkiakum County judge earlier this month.

Casey Lipe also forfeited his truck, two firearms, GPS equipment for his dogs, an iPhone, two-way radios and other hunting gear as part of the plea deal stemming from the May 2023 incident.

“We wish to thank the Wahkiakum County Deputy Prosecutor, Shannon Eddy, for her hard work and diligence on this case,” stated WDFW Police in a Facebook post early this afternoon.

The case began when state game wardens received a report of several GPS-collared dogs pursuing a bruin past a cellular trail camera, followed by a rifle-toting man about 20 minutes later.

WDFW Officer Lisa Ariss just happened to be in the area outside Cathlamet, on the Lower Columbia, and was able to quickly respond to the scene.

There, Ariss found a vehicle with a man as well as a toddler inside. Upon questioning, the man said he didn’t know anything, so Ariss decided to wait and see what happened next.

After awhile, Lipe emerged from the woods sans rifle but with multiple collared hounds, three of which also carried fresh wounds on their muzzles.

Initially, Lipe told Ariss that he’d just been exercising his dogs, but in the end he cooperated and took her to a dead bear and his stashed rifle and handgun.

“The stars lined up on this case,” said WDFW Captain Dan Chadwick at the time. “We were fortunate that this crime was captured by a cellular trail camera that alerted the owner, who then quickly called it in. We also had an officer only minutes away and that is rare for our skeleton crew to be that close to an in-progress big game poaching.”

Hunting bears with hounds in Washington was banned by a 1996 initiative.

On June 17 of this year, Lipe was charged with hunting bears with dogs and second-degree unlawful hunting of big game by Wahkiakum County prosecutors and subsequently reached a plea deal.

“He was sentenced to serve a total of 10 days in jail or home detention at the defendant’s expense. Additionally, he must pay $5,000 in fines, $2,000 in wildlife penalties and is on probation for the next 24 months to include not committing any fish and wildlife violations, entering Weyerhaeuser property in Wahkiakum County, hunting in Washington, accompanying anyone hunting in the state, or transporting any fresh hunting kills in the state,” WDFW Police posted.

Suspending Lipe’s license in Washington for five years also carries with it a five-year suspension in Oregon and two years in the next two closest states, Idaho and Nevada, per the agency.