A Friend showed me this morning. Sad, sad, sad
https://nwsportsmanmag.com/2013/03/04/wa-wildlife-officers-recover-10-buck-heads-including-29-inch-5x6-during-search-warrants-linked-to-okanogan-poachings/8 Of 10 Buck Heads Recovered In Okanogan Poaching Case ‘Found In A Horse Trailer, Rotting’
By Andy Walgamott, on March 4th, 2013
This case has made me increasingly angry since I first started hearing about it a couple months ago, and now it appears that there has been a breakthrough in the poaching and wasting of large bucks in Okanogan County this winter.
What’s chilling is the apparent scope of the illegal killing — ten bucks, four search warrants, suspects allegedly knew each other, officers brought in from as far as 100 miles away and multiple agencies to help.
One wonders exactly what is going on up in North-central Washington, home to the state’s biggest, most important mule deer herd.
“This was a poaching ring, and spree killing,” Sgt. Jim Brown told KC Mehaffey of the Wenatchee World, in an article picked up by The Columbian. “All of the suspects in this case know each other. They’re interrelated, and doing this together, or as part of a common scheme … They just killed them to kill them … Their heads were stacked like cordwood.”
Some of that sounds not unlike the case of Nathan Blaha in Wisconsin, the guy who along with a couple friends killed 100 whitetails and who reportedly said, “The reason I was doing this was because we all kind of had bets who could get the most deer.”
Mehaffey also wrote:
Brown said local sportsmen who saw officers processing the evidence in a parking lot on Friday stopped to see what was happening.
“They were sick to their stomachs,” he said, adding, “It’s the theft of an opportunity from a legitimate hunter. These deer were going to be that big or bigger in a year. And now, they’re not in the gene pool. They’re never going to be involved in breeding again.”
As someone who has hunted Okanogan County for coming up on two decades in a few years (and whose family has been doing so for many years before), but also as a regular joe citizen who values the state’s public wildlife, I’m absolutely sickened by this, as are many hunters.
Brown, a hunter himself, tells Northwest Sportsman that he believes it was thrill killing, and says that while the suspects were keeping the bucks’ heads, they were not apparently going to sell or do much of anything with them.
“They were found in a horse trailer, rotting,” Brown says.
How many, we asked.
“Eight,” he said.
Brown said that two of the search warrants were served on the Colville Reservation, but noted that that didn’t necessarily mean that the suspects were tribal members.
He says he believes all the bucks were killed from Loup Loup Pass down to the Okanogan River, and from within a mile of the Canadian border south to the Brewster area, a swath of federal, state and private land.
Kudos to the private citizens who knew this behavior wasn’t right and called in tips, and good job to the guys in brown and green for putting things together. Can’t wait to see the charges filed by the Okanogan County Prosecutor’s Office.
“They’re not going to be happy with these guys when we’re done,” says Brown.
He says the same prosecutor who handled the Jim Erickson bear baiting case last year will be on this one.
“I’m comfortable,” says Brown. “I have no reservations.”
We’ll be following this case as it develops — and we might point out there have been several other spree deer poaching cases over the past year, though of somewhat different natures.
Here’s the rundown from WDFW’s Mike Cenci, deputy chief of law enforcement, who posted this on Facebook:
Based on tips from concerned citizens, Fish and Wildlife Police served four search warrants in Okanogan County last Friday to resolve a deer killing spree. As a result of the search, Officers recovered 9 deer heads ranging from a 4×4 mule deer to a trophy class 5X6 mule deer with a 29” antler spread. One of the ten heads was actually recovered late last month during a separate warrant service.
The investigation into this string of poached animals dates back to late fall of 2012. Headless whitetail and mule deer carcasses were left in the field to rot. It appears that the deer were taken at night with artificial light.
WASHINGTON FISH AND WILDLIFE OFFICERS POSE WITH THE ILLEGALLY TAKEN DEER HEADS -- NINE BUCKS THAT WON'T BE AVAILABLE TO LEGITIMATE HUNTERS THIS FALL. (WDFW)
WDFW officers from as far away as Leavenworth and Moses Lake were brought in to assist in the operation. Detachment Sergeant Brown wishes to thank the Okanogan County Sheriff Department and the Colville Tribal Police for their assistance with manpower in serving multiple search warrants.
While multiple suspects are involved, names are being withheld pending the completion of the investigation. Taking a deer during the closed season is a gross misdemeanor, and carries a maximum punishment of $5,000 and up to a year in jail. Each animal carries an additional assessment of $1,000 to $6,000 depending on whether the animal is non-trophy or trophy class. A 2004 Dodge pick-up used in the incidents was seized, and may be subject to forfeiture proceedings.
Here’s mostly the same information from Sgt. Jim Brown, but more context:
On Friday March 1, 2013, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Enforcement Program served four search warrants in Okanogan County. The warrants were the result of tips obtained in response to an early January 2013 press release where the department was requesting information from the public about deer poaching. The intent was to gather information to assist in the investigation of several deer that had been shot in the closed season at night, and then left to waste, with only the heads removed. Enforcement Program reports that they received numerous calls about the incidents and some possible suspects. However, no single tip was the key to solving the cases, rather the multiple tips received were then checked out for reliability, and those that had merit were connected together to form a mosaic that resulted in the issuance of the warrants.
The warrants were to recover evidence and illegally taken trophy mule and whitetail deer heads poached in incidents around the county dating back to at least late fall of 2012. Through these warrants, a total of 10 antlered deer heads and other evidence was recovered that will assist in solving the cases and bring those responsible to justice. The smallest set of antlers was on a four-point mule deer and the largest was a 5X6 mule deer with a 29” spread. One of the ten heads was actually recovered late last month in a different warrant.
(WDFW)
The department wants to thank those members of the public that provided these interlocking tips that allowed us to get to this point. “We have several more things to accomplish before we can refer the case to the Okanogan County Prosecutor for charging, but we expect to be able to wrap up the remaining parts of our investigation in the next few weeks,” said Sergeant Jim Brown, supervisor of the local WDFW detachment. “At the time of charging, we will be able to release the names of those charged in the case, but we are not ready to do that yet,” said Brown. WDFW is still interested in any additional information that becomes available, even though the heads have been recovered. It is possible that there are other poached deer, or even suspects involved that we do not yet know about.
Brown states that, WDFW officers from as far away as Leavenworth and Moses Lake were brought in to assist in the operation. He also wanted to thank the Okanogan County Sheriff Department and the Colville Tribal Police for their assistance with manpower to serve these multiple warrants. He stated that without their help it would have been difficult to search that many places at once.
Those charged with taking these deer face a mandatory $6,000 per animal additional penalty beyond the fines set by a court, and up to a year in jail on each count. A 2004 Dodge pick-up used in the incidents was seized, and may be subject to later forfeiture. A 24 year old Omak area man was booked into the Okanogan County Jail for Driving While License suspended, stemming from a contact during one of the warrants. He is also a suspect in the deer cases.
If anyone has information about this case, or any other violations they can call the WDFW Poaching Reporting number at 1-877-933-9847 and it will be relayed to our field officers. Urgent calls, with in-progress violation information should go to the WSP Dispatch at 509-422-3800, extension 0.
