In Wayne County, two poachers recently paid fines for illegally taking a deer. According to a press release issued by DEC, on December 17th, 2020, ECO Younglove received a call about a deer shot from the road.
The ECO arrived at the reported location and found a New York State Police (NYSP) Trooper and Palmyra Police Officer already on scene. After receiving a description of the vehicle, ECO Younglove said they watched the area for several hours and eventually spotted a vehicle matching the description.
The Officer reported they saw the vehicle’s occupants load the deer into the back of the truck. With assistance from a Palmyra Police Officer, ECO Younglove stopped the vehicle, conducted interviews, and seized evidence. After further investigation, the ECO charged the first poacher with seven misdemeanors and violations, including criminal possession of a weapon, illegally taking whitetail deer, taking deer with the aid of an artificial light, possession of a loaded gun in a vehicle, and other Environmental Conservation Law crimes. The Officer charged the second poacher with illegally taking whitetail deer and hunting from a vehicle.
The two poachers paid $1,900 in fines and officers seized a firearm used in the deer jacking for destruction.
Good job they should be going after the people that got the on line hunting licenses by having some one else do it for them
Happens all the time in Wayne county. I can’t count the number of nights I hear shot guns in the nearby woods in the middle of the night. Maybe they’re hunting something else but I doubt it. The fines should be meaningful. To the poachers, it’s just the cost of doing business.