Idaho man to serve month in jail in moose poaching case

A northern Idaho philanthropist convicted of poaching a moose near Mica Bay has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail.

The Coeur d’Alene Press reports 66-year-old John A. Huckabay was sentenced to two years in prison, but 1st District Judge Benjamin Simpson then suspended that sentence and ordered Huckabay to serve a month in jail without the chance of work release or public service release.

Huckabay lives in Coeur d’Alene and runs his family’s foundation, Huckabay Family Challenge, which has committed more than $8 million toward scholarships through the University of Washington for students who want to practice rural medicine in the northwest.

Huckabay was convicted by a jury earlier this year of not having a tag to kill a cow moose he shot in October 2014.

During the sentencing earlier this month, Simpson commended Huckabay for his role as a benefactor, but said killing an animal valued by others and the state couldn’t go unpunished. He also ordered Huckabay to serve two years of probation and revoked his hunting license for three years.