Sad part is I know one of these folks
VEVAY - Operating on a complaint call from an alert citizen, Indiana conservation officers from the Department of Natural Resources apprehended two Florida men early Tuesday morning on deer poaching charges in Switzerland County.
Lee Hunter, 43, of Perry, Fla., and Bobby Futch, 41, of Steinhatchee, Fla., each were charged with four counts of illegally taking deer and one count of using a spotlight to illegally take deer. The violations are Class C misdemeanors.
Hunter and Futch entered guilty pleas Wednesday in Switzerland County Circuit Court and face fines and court costs, $500 reimbursement per deer and forfeiture of their firearm.
The citizen who contacted law enforcement officials by phone after hearing gunfire from a nearby highway provided a vehicle description, direction of travel and information that one of the suspects exited the vehicle on foot.
A short time later, officers from the Vevay Police Department and Switzerland County Sheriff's Department observed a spotlight being shined from the suspect vehicle. They stopped the vehicle and found the driver, Hunter, in possession of a .22 magnum rifle and spotlight.
While interviewing Hunter, officers learned his accomplice, Futch, was on foot to remove the head of a male white-tailed they had just shot.
Indiana Conservation Officer Cpl. Steve Kinne located a freshly killed headless deer carcass near the scene, as well as a saw and the removed deer head. With assistance from Switzerland County sheriffs and K-9 units, Kinne determined Futch's direction of travel. Futch, who had fled on foot, was contacted via Hunter's cell phone and convinced to surrender to law enforcement officers.
Further investigation revealed the two men illegally killed an additional six deer in Indiana during November.
"They weren't killing the deer for the meat or for profit but just for the antlers," Kinne said. "It was just so they could take the antlers back to Florida and brag about the big deer they shot. The meat was going to waste."
Kinne credited interagency cooperation for making "a world of difference" in the investigation. Units assisting Indiana Conservation Officers were the Vevay Police Department, Switzerland County Sheriff's Department, and Indiana State Police.
Citizens are encouraged to call the Turn-In-A-Poacher hotline if they suspect illegal fish and wildlife activity or polluting. The toll-free number is 1-800-TIP-IDNR (1-800-847-4367). Reports also can be made online at TIP.IN.gov. __________________
And more.
Florida Men Busted by MDC in Maryville....
Maryville, Mo. -
Charges are pending in Atchison County against two Florida men following their arrest on deer poaching charges Tuesday afternoon by Protection Division agents from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The agents were assisted by officers from the Maryville Department of Public Safety.
Holt County Conservation Agent Jade Wright said Thursday the men each posted $1,169 bond and waived formal indictment, a procedure that allows them to return to their home state. A spokesperson for the Atchison County Sheriff's Department said the waiver amounts to a guilty plea.
Following the filing of formal charges next week, and depending on disposition of the case in Circuit Court, Wright said it is likely the bonds will be forfeited in lieu of fines.
The arrests followed an MDC Operation Game Thief hotline call reporting suspicious hunting activity on private property along the Atchison/Holt county line near the intersection of Route Z and County Road 390.
Two agents responded to the scene and interviewed a witness who described the suspects as driving a silver-gray Chevrolet pickup truck with Florida tags. The agents found a large headless deer carcass in a nearby cornfield and the head of an eight-point buck along a nearby fencerow.
A second witness reported seeing a black Dodge pickup in the area, also with Florida tags. In addition, two more illegally taken deer were recovered from a roadside ditch northeast of Stanberry.
During their investigation the agents notified area law enforcement agencies, including Maryville Public Safety, which discovered both trucks in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn on the south end of the Business 71 strip, where the suspects were taken into custody.
Pending charges include exceeding the buck deer limit, two counts of failure to check deer, wanton waste and abandonment of deer carcasses and illegal transportation and possession of deer parts. A .270-caliber rifle, a pocket knife and three deer were seized by conservation authorities.
A-holes like this give us all a bad name to the non-hunting public, glad they got caught.they should run the story with pics in their local newspapers and tv. I coluld let it slide if it were someone hungry trying to feed himself or family, but cutting off the head and leaving the carcass, realy pisses me off.
im just waiting for someones name i know to show up on one of these news ads.
:clown
We see that often deer with no head and we know for sure it was a trophy poached at night.That has become a problem in Indiana since the state went to the one buck rule and our bucks have been getting to good size.
