10/07/2019
A deer hunter has been charged after state environmental officials said he took a buck out of season and then fled from law enforcement.
Environmental Conservation officers were dispatched to the Oriskany Flats Wildlife Management Area in Whitestown on Sept. 27 for a report of two men carrying rifles and dragging a whitetail buck out of the woods. When the officer found the two men, he said they fled on foot and shed their camouflage clothing.
The officer was able to catch the men and questioned them. One of the hunters admitted that he accidentally shot the eight-point buck because he thought it was a squirrel. The hunter said he used a .308-caliber rifle with a scope and then the two of them stashed the buck in tail grass, hoping to recover it later, officials said.
The hunter brought the officers to the dead animal’s location and he was charged with taking a deer out of season and taking a deer by unspecific means, authorities said.
The hunter’s identity was not released. The man is scheduled to appear in Town Court, the authorities said.