Tom Arthur speaks after guilty plea

A hunting violation involving Saratoga resident Tom Arthur has finally reached a conclusion.

On January 20, Arthur pled guilty in Carbon County Circuit Court to the charge of Illegal use of Firearm to Take Deer during Archery Only Deer Hunting. The guilty plea relates to a September 2022 violation and a back-and-forth between Arthur’s legal counsel and the Carbon County Attorney’s Office.

“The circumstances for the violation occurred in September while legally hunting for a cow elk with a rifle on our ranch near Saratoga,” said Arthur in a statement to the Saratoga Sun. “This was also archery season for deer, which I had a license for. When I saw a deer that I had previously been archery hunting, I shot it with the rifle. I sincerely regret this mistake and I take full responsibility for it.”

Arthur added he also regretted that his ranch manager—whom he called a “decent, good and well respected person”—was implicated in the circumstances.

“I’ve hunted across the country and around the world, ethically, for 50 years without committing a big game offense,” said Arthur. “Unfortunately, there have been stories in the Wyoming media, social media and particularly on local talk radio that have been vitriolic and untrue.”

In his statement, Arthur attempted to correct what he said was “misinformation and innuendoes.”

According to Arthur, he had pleaded not guilty to the original charge of “Taking certain game animals without license or during a closed season without license” because it was not correct. Because he had a valid license, Arthur said the correct charge should have been “Illegal Use of Firearm to Take Deer during Archery Only Deer Hunting.” 

Arthur also said in his statement that he never attempted to mislead the game warden about what happened and accepted full responsibility for the offense.

Finally, Arthur said the “meetings and negotiations” reported between the county attorney and his lawyer consisted of a handful of phone calls and one meeting.

“After a legal motion to amend the charge, the county attorney agreed to the appropriate offense on January 10,” said Arthur. “We love living in and being involved in this community and Carbon County. I hope our friends will understand that I made a mistake and I’m paying the price for it.”