Pennsylvania Game News - March 2019 - 21

announcing our presence.
"Game Commission officers," we
called out.
There was no response.
We moved closer and called out again.
Again, there was no response.
As Patrick stood by, I looked in the
blind. There were decoys inside, but
nothing else. My heart sank. It seemed
the baiter might be on to us.
We went to the feeder and found it
empty.
Even with the feeder cleaned out,
hunting in the area still would have been
a violation, since the bait and all remnants
would have needed to have been removed
for at least 30 days before hunting there.
But the fact someone had emptied the
feeder proved our cover was blown.
Ready to give up, I noticed Patrick
standing quietly, seemingly preoccupied.
He asked me to listen, and a faint turkey
call emanated from within the adjacent
woods.
We headed toward it and, about 50
yards from the feeder, encountered
two camouflaged hunters sitting
against a fallen log.
We identified ourselves and
performed a field check.
We asked the hunters
about the feeder, but both
said they had no knowledge
of it. They claimed they'd
simply set up at the log that
morning and began calling.
Their body language and
indecisiveness, however,
suggested they weren't
telling the truth.
Game wardens receive
some of the best interview and interrogation
training available, and I
used every tactic I'd been
MARCH 2019

taught. After some further questioning,
one hunter admitted he'd put out the bait.
"I guess you got my buddies at the top
of the hill, too," he said, as we took down
his information.
It surprised us, but we didn't let on
that it did.
"Not yet, but we are heading there
next," I replied. "Why don't you take us
up there, so we can all stay together?"
We walked out of the woods and across
the field, following the hunters' lead. At
the opposite end of the field, we encountered another blind with a corn feeder 10
yards in front of it.
The blind was open and empty, but
imprints in the frost suggested two hunters had occupied it and took off when
they saw us.
We ended up with their names and
phone numbers, and when we set up a
meeting we learned one of them owned
the white truck.
He told us the earlier incident made
him wonder if someone was onto them,
but he didn't make the game-warden connection until he saw us walking across
the field.
In addition to baiting violations, there
were some unplugged shotguns, and one
hunter had never taken the mandatory
Hunter-Trapper Education course.
It was a solid case for a new game
warden and I was proud of our efforts.
We discussed our good fortune as we left
the scene. Patrick couldn't get over that
the baiters didn't hunt elsewhere. After
all, at least one of them was suspicious.
Since that time, I've had several deer
cases that involved felony charges, even
Crimes-Code violations. But this case still
stands out. Not only because it was one
of my first, but because protecting our
wildlife resources is, and will always be,
worth going the extra mile.
21
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - March 2019
