ECO Officer Update

Illegal Deer Take - Schoharie County

On Nov. 25, at approximately 1 p.m., while patrolling in the town of Blenheim, ECOs Bohling and Burgess checked a deer on a deer carrier on Burnt Hill Road in Burnt-Rossman Hill State Forest in Schoharie County. ECO Bohling observed the deer was freshly harvested and had only one antler five inches long. Burnt Hill State Forest is in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 4G and a mandatory antler restriction area, meaning that any buck (antler over 3”) harvested must have at least one antler with three points. The ECO noticed the tag on the deer was a Deer Management Permit for the wrong WMU and had been filled out as taken on that date in the town of Rensselaerville, Albany County. The ECOs interviewed residents at camps in the area who said they observed and spoke with the hunter at 8 a.m. before he went afield. The campers also noted there was not a deer on the carrier when the hunter parked that morning. The ECOS gathered evidence, waited for the hunter to come out of the woods, and interviewed him. The hunter admitted to shooting the deer on State land and tagging it with his 4H DMP tag. Additionally, he justified shooting the deer because he thought it was a doe. ECO Bohling quickly informed the hunter that even if he were hunting a doe, he would not be able to harvest it with a 4H tag in WMU 4G. ECOs issued four tickets for the illegal take of big game, having a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, improper tagging, and harvesting a buck without three points in an antler restriction area.