2 women found guilty of interfering with bear hunters

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (WCAX) - Two Caledonia County women have been found guilty of interfering with bear hunters.

It happened back in October n Groton State Forest. State Game Wardens say three bear hunters using hounds spotted a bear and followed it onto private property where it climbed a tree. They left it unharmed and returned to their truck.

Police say that’s where they found Donna Babic and Betty Eastman letting air out of their tires. Both women are from Groton but authorities say neither owned the property. Wardens say the women then let their German Shepherd loose and it attacked one of the leashed hounds.

The court fined each woman $262 and banned them from hunting, fishing, and trapping for one year.

“Vermonters don’t always agree on wildlife management, especially when it comes to big game,” Fish and Wildlife Chief Game Warden Colonel Jason Batchelder said in a statement. “Even so, I would ask that Vermonters respect one another’s constitutional right to hunt. Intentionally interfering with legal hunters in any fashion will result in court action, especially in a potentially dangerous fashion as we saw in this case.”

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