Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) - A state Game and Fish commissioner says he was surprised to receive a citation after he reported the shooting of a prairie dog out of season.

Jack Husted tells The Associated Press that he was unaware of a hunting season for Gunnison prairie dogs when he took a friend's 13-year-old son out shooting in Springerville in April and let him kill the animal.

Husted says he learned days later at a commission meeting that the hunting season had ended March 31. He then reported the shooting and believed he would be disciplined.

He received a citation instead and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor Tuesday.

State Game and Fish Department spokesman Jim Paxon called Husted's action exemplary but says it doesn't erase the violation.