Two Oregon poachers who killed two bear cubs in late 2022 were sentenced to pay $15,000 in damages and lost their hunting privileges for three years, along with a five-year bench probation.

Gail Faye Freer, 52, and her son, Corey Douglas Loving II, 29, both of Siletz, Oregon, were believed to have killed two bear cubs on or about Oct. 9, 2022, while trespassing on private land. An anonymous call to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife “Turn in Poachers” TIP Line sparked an investigation that resulted in the arrests and convictions.

Law enforcement officials said the two were trespassing when they saw a bear cub among berry bushes. Freer urged Loving to shoot the cub, which he did. They left and returned later to retrieve the cub, believing it would be dead, and saw a cub foraging in the same area. Believing it was the same one, Loving shot again. When they found the cub in the bushes, they found the first one, as well, each with gunshot wounds.

Oregon game wardens located the abandoned carcasses several days later after the call to the TIP line. Both cubs had been left to waste. It is illegal in Oregon to hunt bear cubs less than a year old, or sows with cubs less than a year old. The cubs were about 8 months old, according to state officials. Cubs typically stay with the sow for about 18 months before leaving and seeking their own areas.