December 1, 2010
Natural Resources Police blotter
An Essex hunter was injured last Thursday in a tree stand fall and Natural Resources Police filed poaching charges against several men in Calvert, Caroline and Washington counties.
Officers were called to the vicinity of the 3400 block of Golden Hill Road in Church Creek at 3 p.m. on Nov. 30 for a report of a hunting accident. Michael Patrick Ledley, 30, was deer hunting from a portable tree stand when the strap that held the tree stand to the tree broke. Ledley fell and injured to his leg. The victim was not wearing or using a safety harness at the time of the accident. He was taken to Dorchester County Medical Center.
NRP recommends using a full body harness and prussic knot. The full body harness distributes the weight across the upper body and is attached to a safety line by a prussic knot. The safety line is then tied to the tree and the knot slides along the safety line while the hunter climbs up to the stand. If the hunter falls while climbing or sitting in the tree, the knot tightens and prevents the hunter from hitting the ground. More information on hunting safety can be found at the Natural Resources Police web site at www.dnr.state.md.us/nrp/
On Nov. 22 at 7:15 p.m., officers on patrol in Calvert County charged Anthony James Cullember, 38, of Shady Side, Jerome Owen Cullember, 41, of Deale, and Patrick Arthur Hand, 62, of Huntington, with jacklighting deer and possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle. The police report said officers watched the men shooting at a deer in the area of Holland Cliffs Road, near Huntington. Officers seized a loaded 30-06 Ruger rifle, a Remington 1100 shotgun, a spotlight and a white-tailed deer.
In Caroline County on Nov. 26, Samuel Allen Bynaker, 23, of Preston, and Edward Lee Myers Jr., 26, of Denton were charged with jacklighting. NRP officers stopped the vehicle at 9:05 p.m on Dion Road and seized two .22-caliber rifles and two knives.
On Nov. 28, John William Zeigler Sr., 45, and Donald Eugene Zeigler, 48, both of Hagerstown, were charged with shooting from the roadway and possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle. The police report says officers saw the men shooting at deer from their vehicle in the 19000 block of Old Forge Road in Hagerstown. A .270-caliber rifle, ammunition and a six-point white-tailed buck were seized. The deer was donated to a needy family.
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