Clovis man gets probation for guiding hunts on missile range

A Clovis man was sentenced to two years of probation and must pay a fine for guiding oryx hunts on White Sands Missile Range without a permit.

Jared Piepkorn, 47, will serve time on probation in connection with state and federal court cases that accused him of violating laws while guiding hunts, as well as fraud. U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Alexander Uballez announced the federal sentence on Wednesday. Piepkorn pleaded guilty Aug. 31, according to court documents.

Dan Lindsey, Piepkorn’s attorney, said his client started guiding hunts with disabled veterans 20 years ago and the practice evolved into a business. He said he was guiding a client on an oryx hunt and mistakenly pursued the animal onto the missile range.

“Jared says, ‘I should have known where I was.’ But when you got clients out there and you see an oryx and he thought that he was off the range but they were on the range ... He took responsibility for that,” Lindsey said. “They put their photos online celebrating, and of course, they geolocated them, and the oryx was just on the bombing range.”

A criminal information filed in U.S. District Court says Piepkorn offered guiding services to kill an oryx and he “should have known” that his actions were unlawful.

Uballez said Piepkorn guided a person from another state onto White Sands Missile Range in January 2021 to hunt oryx, which are large antelope with long, pointy horns. In addition to probation, Piepkorn was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine that will go toward conservation efforts.

There were 95 oryx, which are native to Africa, introduced on lands around WSMR between 1969 and 1977. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish wanted exotic animals in an area where few species of big game animals roamed. Several species were introduced, including the oryx, which thrived in the area. There are thousands of the majestic animals, which can weigh about 450 pounds, in the area today, according to the National Park Service.

Piepkorn was also sentenced in June to three years of probation for attempted fraud and wildlife-related charges in state court. He was ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution to a man who hunted with Piepkorn in that case.

He received a deferred sentence in the state court case, so the charges would be dismissed if he completed the terms of his probation.

Piepkorn’s LinkedIn page says for the last eight months he’s been the owner and operator of Wing River Outfitters. The page says he offers whitetail deer hunts in Minnesota and mule deer, antelope and elk hunts in New Mexico. The hunting services take place on private land, according to the page. It also says that Piepkorn offers fly-fishing classes and expeditions.

But Lindsey said he has agreed not to hunt or offer such services during his three years of probation.