Poachers receive lifetime hunting ban

Two southern Oregon men have received lifetime suspensions of their hunting privileges after pleading guilty to hunting bears with dogs or bait.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - Two southern Oregon men have received lifetime suspensions of their hunting privileges after pleading guilty to hunting bears with dogs or bait.

State police say 42-year-old Terry Clearwater of Butte Falls and 37-year-old Brian Gerke of Shady Cove were targets of a 2008 undercover investigation by troopers.

Oregon is one of 30 states in the Wildlife Violator Compact, in which they honor each other's hunting and angling suspensions.

That means Clearwater and Gerke's lifetime bans also will keep them from hunting in much of the West, Midwest and South.