A hunter dropped off a deer he’d recently shot at a butcher shop in the Hudson Valley town of Greenville on Nov. 30. The tag attached to the deer noted that it was shot in the town of Goshen, in the 3M Wildlife Management Unit, about 100 miles south of the butcher shop.
Two New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police officers who were in the shop at the time were suspicious that a deer shot, tracked, gutted, dragged, and transported 100 miles north was still warm enough to be releasing steam during the skinning process.
During an interview with ECOs, the hunter confessed to shooting the deer right there in Greenville, where he did not possess a valid Deer Management Permit. He instead used a tag he had for another area.
The hunter was ticketed and fined $500, and his deer was donated to a local food pantry.
The following reports are excerpted from DEC:
Two many bucks
Two hunters shot a large eight-point buck in Red Hook on Dec. 4, despite each having already harvested antlered deer during the regular season, according to a tipster. ECOs intercepted the hunters as they exited the woods with the buck and confirmed the tipster’s information. Furthermore, the hunter who shot the buck illegally used someone else’s regular season tag. The shooter was ticketed for taking antlered deer over the limit, failing to report a harvest, and several tagging violations. The other hunter got a ticket for failing to report the harvest of a deer he took on the same property earlier in the season. The buck was donated to the Federation of Dutchess County Fish and Game Clubs’ venison donation program.
Bait and switch
On Dec. 31, ECOs questioned a hunter in a treestand in Sunken Meadow State Park, which is closed to deer hunting. The hunter stated he had permission to hunt on the property adjacent to the state park but confessed to crossing a fence in pursuit of a deer he spotted. Additionally, the hunter spread bait in the area to entice the deer. He was ticketed for unlawful hunting over bait, trespassing, failure to carry a hunting license, failure to carry carcass tags, and carrying a compound bow within a state park. Officers confiscated the bow as evidence.
Too close to home
A hunter shot a six-point buck close to occupied homes in Jewett on Dec. 7. ECOs noticed blood and drag marks extending from a yard to the roadway. They visited the reported shooter’s residence and observed a pickup truck with fresh blood in the back. The shooter admitted to stepping off the roadway and firing just 150 feet from the nearest home. It is illegal in NY to discharge a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling or occupied structure. The shooter was ticketed for illegal take of big game and for discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and fined $500. The buck was donated to a local food pantry.
Hunting over bait
On January 11, ECOs ticketed two men in East Quogue for hunting over pre-established bait piles and for hunting without a license and failing to report a deer harvest. ECOs confiscated their crossbows as evidence.
Unlucky seven
On January 8, ECOs arrested a Malone man following a deer poaching investigation in Franklin County. The man had a suspended hunting license and was found in possession of seven illegal deer. He was charged with one count of third-degree grand larceny (felony), third-degree criminal mischief (felony), seven counts of hunting with a revoked or suspended hunting license, seven counts of illegally taking wildlife (misdemeanor), seven counts of taking wild game in excess of the bag limit (misdemeanor), two counts of taking an antlered deer without a Deer Management Permit (misdemeanor), and seven counts of failure to tag deer. The defendant is scheduled for arraignment in the Town of Malone Court.
Three times the charm
A group of waterfowl hunters returned to a boat launch at Wantagh Park shortly after sunset on Jan. 17. An ECO on patrol found that one of the hunters didn’t have the three things required to hunt waterfowl: a valid hunting license, an active registration with a Harvest Information Program number, and a valid Federal Duck Stamp. The hunter was ticketed for all three violations.
