April 14, 2018
From AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com
State Department of Environmental Conservation officers recently helped rescue a clam fisherman on Long Island, busted an illegal ivory sale on Staten Island and busted an illegal hunter in the Adirondacks.
On Monday, March 26, Environmental Conservation Officer Scott Atwood received a complaint about a deer taken out of season near a hunting camp in the town of Clifton, St. Lawrence County. When Atwood arrived on scene, he found a pickup truck stuck in the snow, along with blood and drag marks. Atwood searched the area and found where a deer had been shot.
Atwood followed the drag marks to the edge of a pond where he found a fresh pile of deer entrails. He then received a phone call from the truck’s owner, who proceeded to give Atwood “a bogus story as to how the deer was killed,” according to the DEC.
Atwood told the man that evidence contradicted his story, at which point the man told Atwood the truth.
The man had been hunting for coyotes with a friend and took aim on an animal using just the moonlight. When the men inspected the animal, he found it was a doe and, afraid of getting in trouble, decided to keep the animal. It was hanging in a garage at the camp.
Atwood charged the shooter with taking deer during the closed season, killing deer except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law, and illegal possession of protected wildlife. The man’s friend was issued a written warning for illegal possession of wildlife. The man’s gun and the deer were seized, and the deer was brought to a butcher shop, where it was donated to the Helping Hands of Hannawa, which provides meals to the local community.