Two Men Charged In Oregon Sheep Poaching Incident

Photo Credit: Ben Coulter

According to a press release, Oregon State Patrol received a call around 9:45 AM on April 3, 2016 from a passing motorist concerned to see a man dressing out what appeared to be a dead bighorn sheep (ovis canadensis). As Troopers located and began to question a male suspect, additional motorists stopped at the scene near milepost 119 to advise law enforcement officials that a second male suspect could be seen from the roadway hiding in the brush.

When troopers began their search for the second individual, they discovered two severed sheep heads nearby. The carcasses had not been gutted, and further investigation by the OSP and Fish and Wildlife Troopers determined the two men had worked together to shoot the animals and take the heads as trophies. The second suspect was caught hiding approximately two miles east of the scene around 4 PM, according to the press release.

Justin M. Samora, 32, of Layton, Utah was booked into the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles on a charge of aiding in a game violation.

Cody J. Plagmann, 37, of Albany, Ore. was booked on charges of taking/possessing a bighorn sheep, wasting of a game animal and hunting on another’s cultivated or enclosed land.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website, the state’s bighorn sheep population can be found in Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Lake, Malheur, Sherman and Wallowa counties. Last year, more than 20,000 hunters applied for hunting tags; less than 100 were given out.

District Wildlife Biologist Jeremy Thompson said in the press release that this particular herd of bighorn sheep the two animals were poached from had been a popular viewing attraction in the Columbia River Gorge since 1993, an area noted for massive basalt rock formations overlooking the majestic blue waters below.

"It's an outrage that someone would poach a bighorn sheep, when hunters can wait their whole life and still never get the opportunity to hunt this iconic species,” Thompson said.