Groveland Twp.- At about 8:20 a.m., Oct. 10, a gunshot rang out in the township.
A resident who heard the shot called the Department of Natural Resources poaching hotline, and a conservation officer responded to investigate, ultimately ticketing another township resident.
‘The officer went to the address given by the complainant and recovered the remains of a six-point buck illegally taken with a firearm during archery season,? said Dean Molnar, assistant chief of the DNR law enforcement division.
Molnar was unable to name the suspect or the Groveland Township address as the case proceeds through the court system, but noted the suspect is facing a stiffer set of penalties following legislation passed last year regarding the taking of antlered deer out of season. Previously, the law stated a person found to have taken a deer illegally was subject to up to five days in jail, fines and costs set by the court, loss of hunting privileges for the year convicted, as well as the next three years, and was also required to pay $1,000 in restitution to the the state.
With the new law, Molnar said all of those penalties stay in place, but if the deer in question is a legal antlered buck (with at least one 3-inch antler), a poacher will automatically pay an additional $1,000 in restitution, and if the buck is an 8-, 9- or 10-point, there will be an additional $500 charge per point. For example, with a 10-point buck, an illegal hunter could potentially pay $7,000 in restitution. For a buck that has 11-points or more, it is $750 per point.
‘The legislators wanted stiffer penalties in place to protect all bucks in the state of Michigan, but they put extra emphasis on trophy bucks that someone may try and take,? said Molnar.
In addition to the heftier fines, the new law extends the length of time the illegal hunter will lose his license by another two years for first-time offenders (to five years) and for repeat offenders, to 10 years.
The Groveland suspect is expected to pay $2,000 in restitution to the state for the illegal taking of the 6-point buck. Molnar could not say if the man had a previous hunting violation, but a neighbor who wished to remain unnamed said over the past three years he and other neighbors have filed multiple complaints about the suspect hunting deer, as well as turkey, out of season.
‘This has been a long-term problem and we finally caught him,? said the man. ‘I want to give a shout out for the great work the DNR does, they have been persistent. He’s been given warnings and they know he’d getting away with it, but the window of opportunity for catching someone is small. I love to hunt, but I hunt legally. Poaching gives hunters like me a bad rap. We need to police ourselves and take care of this. If you can’t hunt right, don’t hunt at all. Poaching isn’t even hunting, it’s stealing a natural resource from our state.?
Molnar emphasized that poachers are indeed stealing from the state of Michigan.
‘A lot of people look at fish and game violations as not a crime against society, but it is? (legal fishing and hunting) is an economic boom for the state of Michigan… A lot of people benefit from a good, healthy deer population in the state.?
Molnar and the DNR appreciate residents who act as the eyes and ears for the state by calling when they suspect illegal hunting. The DNR issues about 3,000-4,000 tickets per year for wildlife violations, not including verbal warnings. Legislators recently appropriated more funding for the DNR and 23 new conservation officers will begin their assignments in November.
‘If you see something, even if you’re not sure, get license plate numbers, the time of day, what they were wearing? if you have a cell phone you can take pictures, all of that helps our officer build a case,? Molnar said.
To report poaching, call the DNR hotline, staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-800-292-7800.