Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008 - 19

to hide it from the “wardens,” I thought, where would I stash it? Looking around the area I noticed a very small inconspicuous brushpile about 35 yards to the north of the gut pile, just on the edge of the woodlot. I said out loud, “That deer has to be in that brushpile.” I could scarcely discern the brown hide of a deer, neatly covered by grass and sticks, expertly tucked inside the brushpile. Had I not been looking for the deer here it would have gone unnoticed; I’d previously walked right by it searching for boot tracks. Moving the grass, sticks and leaves off the deer, I dragged it out of the brush pile and was astounded that the hunter had actually tagged the deer, with his name, address and all of the required information legibly printed on the tag. I couldn’t believe it. The name on the tag was Jediah Snorker, Middlefield, Ohio. Looking from the brushpile to where the deer had been field-dressed, I determined the hunter must have carried the deer to the brushpile to not leave any drag marks. And the way the light was reflecting off his tracks, I couldn’t see his boot prints unless I looked from the brushpile back toward the gut pile. I called Lawrence and Jerry to inform them I’d located the deer, and they indicated they’d found no one in the controlled area. However, trying to find someone in this particular 1,700-acre area would be difficult at best, with the terrain ranging from cornfields, woodlots and fields of switch grass to flooded timber and endless swamps. When Lawrence returned, he did say that about 10 minutes after he left me to look for the hunter, he’d heard a SEPTEMBER 2008 The Pymatuning Waterfowl Management Area is perhaps the premier spot in Pennsylvania to view and hunt migratory waterfowl. muzzleloader go off in the area but was unable to locate the shooter. After photographing the scene and collecting evidence, we left the area; it was 10:30 a.m. and Lawrence had to leave for work. He asked me to call him later if we came up with anything, and I thanked him for his help. I checked a few hunters across the road in the swamp, and no one knew of Mr. Snorker. I saw another hunter walking away from the controlled area and into the swamp with a bow, clad in the same attire as Mr. Snorker. After checking him I asked him if he knew Mr. Snorker. At first he was very evasive but relented that Mr. Snorker was with his group. He said that he hadn’t seen Snorker all morning and didn’t really know what area he was hunting. He said that it was dark when their group split up to hunt earlier in the morning. Apparently a large group of hunters had hired a driver to bring them in a large van to hunt deer in the Pymatuning Area. Before the day was over, I was certain I’d be checking a lot of hunters from Mr. Snorker’s party. About an hour later I met Deputy John Ittel at the Pymatuning Administration Building in Hartstown and filled him in on the deer shot in the controlled area. We then started the slow process of checking hunters in the entire area. On Ball Road, which is at the opposite end of the controlled area from where the deer was killed, we checked hunters along the swamp. We did manage to locate members of Mr. Snorker’s group but, conveniently, no 19

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008