Thorp man charged with killing 30-plus deer

[Ice Cap]

A Thorp man is accused of shooting and leaving to rot more than 30 deer over several years, after a neighbor jogging by reportedly saw a “holocaust” of deer carcasses on the man’s Thorp Highway property.

According to court records the jogger, who was passing by 63-year-old Rodney Arnold Lang’s house, reported the find to the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office late last October.


A deputy arrived but didn’t notice anything, according to court records, but Lang did approach him and complain about deer damaging his property and garden. Lang denied shooting deer.

The case was forwarded to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The department searched its records, according to court documents, and never found a report from Lang about problem deer.

A department officer walked along nearby railroad tracks and located two dead deer, and worked with the neighbor who made the original report to find a pile of bones.

None of the carcasses had been dressed, court records said. Officers tried to contact Lang without success.

Days later, the department received a call from Lang, who said he shot another deer, although he was told not to.

Court records said Lang insisted he had a right to defend his property.

When department officials tried to discuss non-lethal options, the records said, Lang said he didn’t want to build fencing because he didn’t want to deal with opening and closing gates.

A WDFW officer returned to Lang’s property later, where Lang admitted to shooting at deer who damage his fruit trees or garden, adding he’d killed more than 30 deer over the past five or so years.

According to court records, Lang said they were like rodents, and it didn’t matter how many were killed, because they kept coming back.

WDFW searched the property and found 20 deer carcasses of varying age and sex in various stages of decomposition around his property.

None were dressed or processed in any way, and most were left in a large pile to rot or for animals to scavenge, according to court records.

Lang pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first degree unlawful hunting of big game and wasting of fish and wildlife — the crime of leaving game to rot.

His trial is currently scheduled for June 2, and he’s represented by Ellensburg attorney Chelsea Korte.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Gee, that may have affected the local deer harvest.

[Jonathan_S]

Friggin kook.

Should have went into a partnership with Louie.

[JimmyHoffa]

I wonder if this guy or his neighbors had the option of allowing hunting.  I know some suburban/semi-rural areas are getting over run by deer. 

[actionshooter]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

[GBoyd]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

God bless the internet. It took four comments to go from "that must have affected the local deer harvest" to public execution.

[Miles]

I wonder if this guy or his neighbors had the option of allowing hunting.  I know some suburban/semi-rural areas are getting over run by deer. 

Just a guess, but I would bet there are No Hunting/No Trespassing signs surrounding the property...   

[JJB11B]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

God bless the internet. It took four comments to go from "that must have affected the local deer harvest" to public execution.

I support public executions, for real bad crimes...

[Miles]

The deer are eating his garden.  He's showing them what happens when you mess with his food.   Seems like he's doing a good job at it too. 

[rtspring]

He has a great Attorney....  I know him well..   

[actionshooter]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

God bless the internet. It took four comments to go from "that must have affected the local deer harvest" to public execution.

Absolutely, are you saying you condone his actions?

 I usually don't jump on the band wagon but this kind of thing makes me sick.

[JimmyHoffa]

What if he had killed 30 wolves over the time period that were coming onto his property and killing livestock?

[actionshooter]

What if he had killed 30 wolves over the time period that were coming onto his property and killing livestock?

No difference in my eyes, poaching and waste is still the same...........but if there were 30 wolves in an area I'm guessing there would be bigger problems   

[Boss .300 winmag]

He has a great Attorney....  I know him well..   

If he has two points in his deer piles he's in like RT! 

Sorry too easy of a pun. 

[GBoyd]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

God bless the internet. It took four comments to go from "that must have affected the local deer harvest" to public execution.

Absolutely, are you saying you condone his actions?

 I usually don't jump on the band wagon but this kind of thing makes me sick.

No, definitely not. I think they need to heartily fine the guy, hopefully so heavily that he at least runs the risk of losing that piece of property. A bit of jail time would be nice as well.

[danderson]

  My first reaction after reading the article in the local news paper was that the guy that admitted to shooting and dumping the deer on his property should face the maximum penalty for each deer, and I still feel that way, this sort of disregard for wildlife has to be the worst case in state history of a game violations, and  cannot go unpunished.

  Makes me mad to think of all the deer that could have been taken legally, the number is in the hundreds.

[Jonathan_S]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

God bless the internet. It took four comments to go from "that must have affected the local deer harvest" to public execution.

I support public executions, for real bad crimes...

I agree but this would not be one of them 

Isn't that why Prince John wanted to kill Robin Hood? 

[birddogdad]

What if he had killed 30 wolves over the time period that were coming onto his property and killing livestock?

he would be a lot of peoples hero from this site!!!

[PA BEN]

I have an 8' fence around my garden and if I had a deer problem I would deal with them legally. I hope they hang him. THIS IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH MEANING PUNISH HIM TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.   

[bobcat]

I very much doubt that this is an isolated example of a landowner killing wildlife on his property illegally. I think it's very common. What's not common is for the poacher to be caught.

[vandeman17]

So are some of you ok with what he did? Just want to clarify

[cbond3318]

I very much doubt that this is an isolated example of a landowner killing wildlife on his property illegally. I think it's very common. What's not common is for the poacher to be caught.

  I think most would puke at the number of animals killed by landowners for one reason or another. Further supported by the apparent and widely supported SSS mentality, there is always those that take it too far.
 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Wonder if anyone cared if I starting mowing down the 30 plus elk that tear up my yard at night  Bet they would send me to prison ! What bothers me more than anything about people doing this is Wasting The Meat ...just killing something to kill it is one thing but to totally waste it is unacceptable

[Jonathan_S]

So are some of you ok with what he did? Just want to clarify

I'm not seeing that on here

[vandeman17]

So are some of you ok with what he did? Just want to clarify

I'm not seeing that on here

Sometimes sarcasm is tough to decipher on here, even with the little emotion thingys

[h2ofowlr]

Probably many more cases like this that aren't caught or reported.  I know the elk problems people were having up river lead to its closure.  The land owner wanted them gone,  the means on which it happened was not favorable.

[dscubame]

I feel the same way about the damn turkeys that invade my property as this guy does about those deer and his garden.  Turkey crap all around my pool, patios, and sidewalks all around my house.  And walking through the grass barefoot is unpleasant when you step in a pile of goo between your toes.

[runamuk]

They need to hang the guy, if you live in an area where wildlife lives and you don't like it, build a fence or move.

God bless the internet. It took four comments to go from "that must have affected the local deer harvest" to public execution.

  right.

I like the protecting his property statement and have sat and pondered other scenarios.... Wolves, or what if it said Bald Eagles, or maybe coyotes, or coons.  Interesting how the outcry changes depending on who is crying out.
Will be curious to see how this turns out and nice that we don't have to wait a year or so like some of the other cases the last few years.

[JJB11B]

What if he had killed 30 wolves over the time period that were coming onto his property and killing livestock?

I would secretly applaud his actions

[Bango skank]

I feel the same way about the damn turkeys that invade my property as this guy does about those deer and his garden.  Turkey crap all around my pool, patios, and sidewalks all around my house.  And walking through the grass barefoot is unpleasant when you step in a pile of goo between your toes.

And the kicker is, the turkeys are not native here.  The state introduced them to make money.

[Humptulips]

I would imagine he will get off on the illegal hunting. You can kill wildlife with a few exceptions in the act of depredation. They will have to prove he was not protecting his property.
The wastage charge though I think he will lose on.

My dad killed a bear out of season that was into the bee hives. He called WDFW and they came out and took the bear. Never was a problem. Bear and deer are both game animals. Only difference is the guy didn't call WDFW.

While I don't condone what he did how many of you would shoot a coon in your yard or a bunch of them if they were giving you problems and never report it? Deer and coon are both game animals.

[KFhunter]

He should have had conservation northwest come install flaggery

[jasnt]

He should have had conservation northwest come install flaggery

[Mossyoak]

I wish he would have reached out to the WDFW....it seems they could have issued him some depredation hunts or something. I know some farmers that have told me to shoot a couple of deer each.....when we would get access to their property..we would never do that...I always thought they were joking with us...but maybe not

[dscubame]

I wish he would have reached out to the WDFW....it seems they could have issued him some depredation hunts or something. I know some farmers that have told me to shoot a couple of deer each.....when we would get access to their property..we would never do that...I always thought they were joking with us...but maybe not

They were not joking, I run across that all the time both while securing hunting access and in casual conversation with many farmers.

[bearkautz]

simple fix fence off the trees ! or I will volunteer to cut down the trees for him ! 

[h2ofowlr]

I wish he would have reached out to the WDFW....it seems they could have issued him some depredation hunts or something. I know some farmers that have told me to shoot a couple of deer each.....when we would get access to their property..we would never do that...I always thought they were joking with us...but maybe not

They were not joking, I run across that all the time both while securing hunting access and in casual conversation with many farmers.

I second this!  I have been asked by several to remove them all.  I just let them know we can only take 1 per person per license.  Any additional would require permits from WDFW.  My wife's uncle is trying to get depredation tags issued for his farm.  The deer work over his apple trees pretty good.

[JimmyHoffa]

I wish he would have reached out to the WDFW....it seems they could have issued him some depredation hunts or something. I know some farmers that have told me to shoot a couple of deer each.....when we would get access to their property..we would never do that...I always thought they were joking with us...but maybe not

They were not joking, I run across that all the time both while securing hunting access and in casual conversation with many farmers.

I second this!  I have been asked by several to remove them all.  I just let them know we can only take 1 per person per license.  Any additional would require permits from WDFW.  My wife's uncle is trying to get depredation tags issued for his farm.  The deer work over his apple trees pretty good.

Yeah, I know a few people absolutely fed up with deer.  They ask me to shoot them all, but I only have one tag.  The deer multiply so fast one tag does nothing.  The people are old enough to not need hunter ed, so it would be easy enough to just have them get a tag and shoot a deer too.  But they never do it.  I've even given them some phone numbers for other hunters and even local tribes since they get I think seven tags each.  But, I don't think that they ever call them either.

[CAMPMEAT]

He should have had conservation northwest come install flaggery

I think he did call CNW, but they had to call the WDFW, to see how much CNW would have to DONATE to WDFW, not to do anything about it.
They're still waiting for a response call from 4 years ago.    Something to do with an Enviromental Impact Statement...