By Mike Burns
DNR Conservation Warden
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to thank the concerned citizen who provided an anonymous tip and the partnership of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office that resulted in a conviction of an area resident on charges related to the poaching of whitetail deer between 2019 and 2021.
Conservation Warden Kyle Halverson and I launched an investigation into the tips, which led to the adjudication of one felony conviction and five misdemeanor charges in the Lafayette County Circuit Court. The court handed down a sentence that included jail time, fines and the loss of privileges to hunt or fish for 15 years.
This case involving a repeat offender illustrates why the DNR wardens value our partnership with the public who shares our passion for protecting our state’s natural resources and the rights of those who hunt and fish the lawful way — the ethical way.
It also is a case of a person who did not change their behavior from previous convictions. In 2006, the same defendant was convicted of hunting deer without a license and possessing illegal deer and had his hunting and fishing privileges revoked for nine years, ending in 2015. The court accepted guilty pleas from the defendant, which included one count of felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of hunting deer without a license and three counts of failure to register a deer.
The investigation found the defendant killed two antlered bucks in 2021, one of which was a 10-point buck with a crossbow that was registered under another person’s approval with the intention of returning to shoot a larger buck. One month later, the defendant poached a second buck, a 12-pointer, with his crossbow in the Gratiot area and used his approval to register the buck. This was the defendant’s second buck harvest of the 2021 archery season, a violation of state law, which allows only one buck to be harvested with crossbow equipment with crossbow approval.
The investigation also revealed the defendant committed similar illegal hunting violations involving bucks in 2019 and 2020. During the 2019 season, the defendant was found to have poached an 8-point buck during the gun season with a rifle as a convicted felon which is illegal in Wisconsin. The defendant is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
This case and many others would not have happened without an anonymous tip to our DNR tip line. If you know of any illegal wildlife or environmental crimes being committed, please call our tip line at 1-800-847-9367. You can remain completely anonymous, and the information you share will remain confidential.
I wish everyone a safe hunting season and an enjoyable holiday season.
— DNR Conservation Warden Mike Burns is available to talk at 608-574-6723, or by email at Michael.burns1@wisconsin.gov.
