February 17, 2015
From TahlequahDailyPress.com
After more than a year of courtroom delays leading up to a potential jury trial, James D. Delaney pleaded guilty to wildlife charges involving a rare piebald whitetail deer named “Patches.”
Research shows his distinct white piebald patches to be a genetic variation that could be as rare as 1 in 20,000.
According to Warden Brady May’s report, a property owner discovered the buck injured near his driveway close to Horseshoe Bend Road. After his discovery, he notified Delaney, who came out around 9 a.m. to confirm the deer was physically unable to move.
Desiring to acquire the deer for himself, Delaney passed up many opportunities throughout the day to properly report the deer to authorities.
In turn, he solicited help from the landowner to acquire an archery license online – one he never printed out, signed, or considered to be required by law.
Three days later, May and Youngblood discovered through agency records that Delaney failed to purchase the required hunting license, in addition to his archery tag.
Charges were filed against Delaney for taking the deer illegally without a hunting license, and failure to produce a computer generated archery license for inspection.