Kudos to the ECOs in Delaware County for a job well-done this past deer season! It’s particularly encouraging to learn the officers take the time to donate confiscated deer to those in need while tirelessly combating poaching in their county.
NY State Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) are tasked with protecting the states wild game through law enforcement and public outreach. In Delaware County, officers stayed busy throughout the 2024 hunting season enforcing a broad range of regulations from hunting while intoxicated, hunting over bait, shooting deer from a public roadway to taking over the limit and hunting with the wrong implements. Through enforcement during the 2024 hunting season, Conservation Officers in Delaware County donated a total of 22 deer to Feeding New York State venison donation program.
Here are a few cases highlighting their efforts combatting poaching in Delaware County during this past deer season:
Illegal Deer Killed with Rifle During Archery Season
On 11/9/24 ECO Dustin Osborne received a complaint of shots fired in the Town of Deposit. ECO Osborne located the suspect exiting the field near the caller’s home. The suspect said he did not have any luck hunting that morning, but further investigation revealed the suspect had an untagged deer in the vehicle which did not meet the antler point restrictions of Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 4O. The suspect claimed to have just shot the deer with a crossbow which was determined to be an illegal crossbow. ECO Osborne continued interviewing the suspect regarding the shots fired complaint earlier that morning when he admitted to harvesting the deer with his rifle, after shooting and missing with his illegal crossbow. ECO Osborne issued a total of 6 tickets, for the unlawful taking of a deer, hunting with an illegal crossbow, killing a deer with the wrong implement, not tagging the deer, and killing a sub-legal buck.
Over Limit and Untagged
On 11/15/24 ECOs Jared Woodin and Nate Doig received information regarding five untagged deer hanging at a property. Upon their arrival, the ECOs found the untagged deer and located two individuals preparing to process two additional deer in a nearby outbuilding. There was a total of three bucks and two does. During an interview, one of the individuals stated, “we don’t have tags for four of the deer, but we use the farmers nuisance permits.” ECO Woodin checked with the landowner/farmer, who stated he had not had nuisance permits in over five years. It was determined that four of the seven deer were killed unlawfully. The unlawfully taken deer consisted of one buck and three doe deer, all of which were confiscated. The two individuals were charged with killing 3 does without proper tags, killing a buck over the limit and failure to tag deer as required. All charges are returnable to Delhi Town Court. The confiscated deer were donated to the Feeding New York State Venison Donation program.
Illegal Deer Over Bait
On 11/11/24 ECO Dustin Osborne and ECO Nate Doig received a complaint of a deer killed over bait. The caller discovered a bait pile and evidence of a deer harvested on property he shares with other hunters. The ECOs then located and interviewed the suspect who ultimately admitted to killing a deer with his bow, over bait earlier in the season, failing to tag the deer, and continuing to hunt the baited site with his rifle during the early archery season. The subject was issued a total of 5 tickets for the illegal deer, hunting over bait, feeding deer, failing to tag the deer, and hunting/possessing a firearm afield during early archery season.
The ECO duo of Osborne and Doig worked together again on 11/16/24 when they received an anonymous tip about multiple deer killed over bait in the Town of Franklin. They responded to the hunting camp and spoke with the landowner who explained he owns several properties across North America, and he feeds approximately 2 ton of corn per property every week. Fur