Syracuse.com - Two alleged deer poachers ticketed in Madison County early Thanksgiving morning

[HuntingNY-News]

Law enforcement officials were alerted by residents who reported hearing shots in a nearby hayfield and seeing a vehicle enter the field.

Submitted photoOfficers and the two confiscated deer.

Two men were arrested early Thanksgiving morning in Madison County for illegally hunting deer with spotlights, a practice called “deer jacking.”

Madison County sheriff’s deputies and Chrisman Starczek, a state environmental conservation officer, responded to a complaint at about 1 a.m. from residents living on Swamp School Road in the town of Smithfield. The residents reported hearing shots in a nearby hayfield and seeing a vehicle enter the field.

According to a DEC report: “When a deputy initially arrived, two men were parked off into the field and they told the deputy they had struck a deer with the SUV but the deer had run off. After the deputy noticed the deer under the SUV, the men admitted that when they saw the lights they drove the SUV on top of the deer in an effort to hide it under the vehicle.”

Additional deputies soon arrived, as well as Starczek. Another deer was discovered inside the vehicle. “It was then determined that both men had taken turns driving the vehicle, using a spotlight, while the other shot a deer from the vehicle.

“A six-point buck and a large eight-point were taken with a 30-06 rifle from the vehicle, from the road and with a spotlight,” the report concluded.

In addition to Starcek, deputies Chad Chapman, Kevin Feola and Sgt. Brad Bowe were on the scene.

Starczek issued tickets to Thomas Hemingway Jr., of Aeropagetica Avenue, in Bridgeport, and Anthony L. Boronczyk, of Larkin Avenue, in Chittenango.

Both face two counts each for the following charges: possessing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, killing wildlife from a motor vehicle, killing wildlife from a public highway, killing deer with the aid of an artificial light, hunting game after legal hours and illegal take/possession of wildlife.

The charges are pending in the Town of Smithfield Court.

Submitted photoThe confiscated rifle and spotlights.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog