Wildgame Nation Suspended Indefintely
Outdoor Sportsman Group Networks, owners of The Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel, has suspended the show Wildgame Nation and host Bill Busbice, Jr. Jim Liberatore, CEO and President of Outdoor Sportsman Group Networks made this announcement today, effective immediately.
“Outdoor Sportsman Group is committed to legal and ethical hunting,” said Liberatore. “We have strict policies and procedures in place that require all of our talent and producers to abide by all hunting regulations. We hold our employees to the highest of standards in order to ensure that we are effectively serving the outdoor community. As a result of the recent charges in Wyoming involving Bill Busbice, Jr., we have suspended the show and Busbice indefinitely from Outdoor Channel.”
The full statement from the OSGN can be found here.
Busbice, an owner of Plano Synergy which encompasses brands such as Ameristep, Avian-X, Barnett Crossbows, BloodSport, Caboodles, Creative Options, Evolved, Flextone, Frabill, GroundEFX, Halo Optics, No Limit Archery, Plano, Tenzing, Wildgame Innovations and Zink Calls, was convicted earlier this week of some series game violations. Busbice was ordered to pay $23,000 in fines and has lost hunting privileges in 45 states for 2 years.
So far Busbice has been convicted of :
- False oath for purchasing a resident general elk license as a nonresident
- Purchasing more than the authorized number of deer licenses
- Intentionally leaving an antlerless elk to waste
- Taking an elk without a license
Has the drive to kill a trophy completely erased hunters ability to exercise sound ethics and their moral compass? Will you continue to support and or purchase brands owned by Busbice? Was the penalty enough for the crimes committed? Lots of questions remain unanswered and were still waiting on an official statement from the the Busbices or anyone representing Plano Synergy.
He is a load mouth obnoxious a**! Doesn’t surprise me at all that he would stoop this low.
I have always felt the same way. What a prick
Gimmick Opportunistic hunters the whole bunch of em, they love fenced Enclosures.
No one needs a bum like this On t.v.
I already own some of those brands and I’m not just going to throw them away but I won’t buy any more. You would think somebody that owns this much could legally hunt and afford to do so
You are SO right, that’s why the $ 23,000 is a drop in the bucket for him. He should have gotten a lot more.
Also a two year ban is not enough. 10 year or indefinitely. These public figures are representatives for our sport and this only puts out mour bad publicity.
100%agree with you. as a public figure He should be slamed with max sentence.
Only the greedy ones have lost the ability to exercise sound judgement. 99% of trophy hunters care about the animals they hunt. Only the 1% of them have the greed to steal a natural resource for all Americans.
People like him that have the big money, think they are above the law. It’s not like he can’t afford non resident license etc! Just a common Poacher!
Amen!^^^^^ he should of got jail time also. A poor guy would have got a huge fine plus jail time. He bought his way out.
It’s a shame that hard working people like us that only dream of hunts that your high dollar friends that have these shows with all the promoters get to go on. All get slapped in the face by one person. But it makes you wonder how many more are doing it and haven’t gotten caught.
Excellent reply
A whole lot more are guilty of the same crime.
How many times has he done it, and got away Scott free. It’s time he pay the pipper. He has no respect for the bueaty of the hunt. Maybe when he was young, but now he has money and lost the respect of the wild.
My Dad always said they are two types of people. Those that get caught and those that don’t.
I live just a few miles from there Olla louisiana operation all the deer they kill here are under fence.(large pen basically) it’s a small coumminuty around here, have not heard anything good about these folks.
Basically all asses!
Arrogant a hole owns pristine land in North Louisiana but never satisfied,how much is enough for this blow hard, byond comprehension
I live close to olla,Louisiana as well and hard to believe that some one that you watch on TV that helps support us as hunters would do that and I love flextone game calls and Barnet crossbows but I won’t buy them any more
Money can not buy Respect
Amen
Greedy son of a bitch!!
The man made a mistake ( just like 99% of us have at one point or another) he is human.
With ALL of the charges, and maybe more pending. He made more than just a mistake, and he knew he was doing it.
When an honest mistake is made. An honest person lanes up to it. They don’t try to cover it up
That’s for darn sure he knew! He sickens me, with all the $$ they get from OC & paid sponsors, they don’t have to do like the rest of us and save for yrs to be able to do the hunt that they do numerous times!!!
I don’t think that the listed crimes can be classified as “mistakes.”
That’s not a mistake that’s a scumbag piece of shit Never senselessly kill something and leave it there to rot no respect for wildlife and if you agree with what he did then you’re an a****** to
Exactly I’m waiting to see how he handles it. It’s what he does moving forward that will define him as a man. We have all done stupid things. I will admit he took it pretty far and should have know better. But I promise you I’m not casting the first stone. Come on Bill Man up admit you were wrong and truly mean it and move on Do something to give back and do it for the right reasons
Exactly I’m waiting to see how he handles it. It’s what he does moving forward that will define him as a man. We have all done stupid things. I will admit he took it pretty far and should have know better. But I promise you I’m not casting the first stone. Come on Bill Man up admit you were wrong and truly mean it and move on Do something to give back and do it for the right reasons
Most people that get caught doing things like are only sorry after the fact.. so in other words he will be sorry he got caught stilling.. Not that what he done was wrong!
The worst thing is that at one time for Eight years he was the Head of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission appointed by Governor Foster. The Dumbass got everything he deserved only not enough he is an idiot hope no one buys any of their products.
Never happen.
This was NOT a simple mistake. It takes EFFORT to do what he did.
This ass should have lost his “right”/ privilege to hunt for a minimum of 10 yrs.
It is hard enough for us hunters nowadays without people like him.
Mistake? Then why was he heard on the video telling his cameraman that they would have to cut out the footage of him shooting the cow elk and then even leaving it there to rot? I made a mistake of watching their obnoxious show twice. Should have known better after watching the first one. This guy has no place on TV as an outdoor show, it even in the woods hunting. He’s nothing more than a thief Nd a game poacher !!!
Stupid response – no mistakes were made – intentional outlawing – big difference pal!
A mistake is an accident. He made a choice. There is a huge difference. There is no excuse for him. He should have a had to pay a lot more, he has the money.
It wasn’t a mistske. He did it on purpose. He lied. You must be a democrat.
Ya right!
I wonder if someone hadn’t turned him in would he have reported his mistake? No attempt was made to contact the game warden from all I’ve read including his statements to the court and this isn’t his first offense.
BS. He knew what he was doing. He’s a poacher , they should of given him jail time.
If I can go make a trophy hunt on his place in olla I will forgive him lol
Bill Busbice was caught and good for him. I won’t support any shows he is involved in but as for their sponsors, they don’t condone these actions and they will drop him so don’t hold them accountable. They don’t deserve to pay for his actions.
Most of the sponsors are his companies. Lol
that is the sad truth right there. his sponsors are mostly under the plano synergy umbrella, but being booted from OC means he more than likely cant get back on Sportsman either, being they are owned by same company. So that will hurt the brand a bit.
All of you that are perfect go ahead and be judge and jury, the rest of you be thankful for being from the USA,the man knows he made a mistake he will pay for his mistake more than you will ever believe.
That’s right
So why did he say ” we need to edit that out” and “we need to get rid of that cow”. In my opinion he got off pretty damn easy with a $23,000 fine and lose hunting privileges for 2 years.
Should be for life
No hunter shoots a elk then leaves it to rot that’s just sick
3.Intentionally leaving an antlerless elk to waste, that’s the one I have a hard time forgiving.
Bull’
Any true hunter would know better than to make this many mistakes. Those of you who are defending should be ashamed to call yourself a true hunter!!
Like other have already stated. With all the money he has, there is no reason to go out and do something like this. I don’t use most of there products and now I never will. My money will go somewhere else.
His mouth has told the story for years! I have never watched him because I figured he was a ass all along with his loud mouth. A hog always returns to the wallow! I rest my case! He broke several laws and ethics in a full circle. Karma is a bitch!
Hope it’s forever!!! Really can’t stand these guys!!
I will never buy any of the products he was endorsing. Low life poacher.
I’ve had some of his product and have not been impressed. Tried to get one exchanged or repaired and the answer finished my ever buying another thing made by them.
He knew what he was doing, got caught, and needs to pay the price like any other hunter.
I’ve hunted on his place and it is nice so maybe he made a mistake doesn’t mean he is a bad guy and that I shouldn’t buy his products
Mistake he made was shooting a elk then leaving it to rot . Hell didn’t even cut it’s head off like poachers do
So becouse he has a nice place, and you hunted it. You think it’s ok what he Did ? You probably shot deer and just left them, huh. Way to go william.
What a slob. It be different if he was needing food or made a mistake. Buying res lic then go out herd shooting letting that animal go to waist is very wrong. Makes me wonder all them other elk hunts prolly wasn’t legal. I screen shot all his company’s make sure he doesn’t get my money. Just a bunch of made China junk . I bought some of his food plot seed ended up with weeds roundup couldn’t kill
I bet this is not the first time he has done this. He knew what he was doing was not right. Period!
By watching his shows, you knew he had this in him. He Never showed the patience when it came to hunting. He was always ridiculed by his sons and colleagues about shooting anything that walked in front of him. It’s a shame, a man who made a name in the business, has destroyed himself over night.
I think he is a dumb ass. And 2 years and 23,000 dollars is a lot
I’ve never let animals rote in the woods but it will make me rethink things I do . What he did is wrong period. But it’s not a person
Well just cause he’s unethical doesn’t mean we can’t use some of the products they use. It wasn’t the product that made him rob the hunting world
A legend in his own mind. Ego out of control is a terrible thing. Darn shame for multiple reasons.
He sure would throw a rod if the Cajun Alligator boys came over to Olla and started smoking his pen full of deer and leaving them laying around. I bet he’d ban them for life! Hypocrite jerk sphincter! Let’s bankrupt him and his brands! I’ll buy em when he’s gone and they are cheap again!
Sooner or later given the chance people almost always show there true colors when comes down to it end the end of people having Dollars & NO CENTS . !😉
Serves him right. I never really liked his show and when I did watch it, I always wondered how many teeth he had in his mouth. Talk about a horse mouth.
His actions bring in to question the legitimacy of all his past kills. It makes one wonder, how much has he and the family gotten away with, just to produce a damn TV show. Bout time he was nailed….and the compact between states, I thought that was for 4 years? Not 2!? He should have been fine for the animals trophy status as well…since it was such a big bull… he should have been made an examole for all TV shows….or people who have shows and feel the pressure to produce the shows and get kills on fill and think about taking the wrong road to getting it done like this fool did.
The problem with this is you’re not going to hurt this man with not buying his company’s products, you’re not going to hurt this man by kicking him off a tv show. People will still buy from them and he will still hunt when he wants too. People will forgive him and people will forget this has happened in a year or so. He has lost a lot of respect from a lot of people over this, but if he doesn’t care, it doesn’t matter. He’s made his money and the facts are nothing is going to stop his sons from continuing on with business as usual. It’s a shame a “spokesman” of the American outdoors man sets an example like this, but the best thing that can happen is lessons get learned and no one else think they can get away with the same thing. As for an apology, if he does or doesn’t, isn’t going to change anything. Some like him some don’t, the damage is done and people can say a lot when they feel they have to.
They need to put that show swamp pawn out of bayouoigeon back ob. It was a family oriented show at least.