Syracuse.com - Local captain of DEC environmental conservation officers stresses hunting by the rules

[HuntingNY-News]

"Capt. Woody Erickson of the state Department of Environmental Conservation is big on strict adherence to the state’s hunting and fishing regulations. He’s also big on the fact that “a vast majority of the sportsmen, the hunters and the fishermen, hunt and fish in an ethical, law-abiding and proper manner.

Ellen M. Blalock/The Post-StandardCapt. Woody Erickson in the doorway of his office at DEC headquarters in Syracuse.

Capt. Woody Erickson of the state Department of Environmental Conservation is big on strict adherence to the state’s hunting and fishing regulations.

He’s also big on the fact that “a vast majority of the sportsmen, the hunters and the fishermen, hunt and fish in an ethical, law-abiding and proper manner.

“Those who get ticketed are a minor portion of that population,” he said.

Erickson, who manages the environmental conservation officers for Region 7, talked this week about what his staff is doing and seeing during this year’s hunting season.

Like every other state agency, budget cutbacks have created concerns. However, in Onondaga County and Cayuga County, there’s no shortage of officers in the field.

“We’re at full staff in Central New York for environmental conservation officers,” he said.

Are you seeing any trends this hunting season?

It’s been typical, with many trespassing complaints because of hunters not properly checking the area where they can hunt, or hunters taking game within 500 feet of a house or dwelling, which is illegal. We’ve also had a number of tickets issued for hunting without a license, or for not properly tagging deer. We’ve seen people lending their licenses to others, which you cannot do. There have also been a few arrests for deer jacking (illegally hunting deer at night with lights).

Courtesy of the DECRifle and spot lights seized from alleged deer jackers early Thanksgiving Day in Madison County.

Safety wise, what kind of season have we had this fall?

Since Nov. 19, we’ve investigated 11 hunter-related shooting incidents so far in this area. Three have involved personal injuries: One individual was shot (with a shotgun) through the leg in Tompkins County, an individual was shot in the stomach (with a rifle) in Tioga County and a hunter was shot in the top of his head with a pellet (from a shotgun). In all instances, it was another hunter who did the shooting.

We’ve had eight shooting incidents involving property damage, including the shooting of two elk, five houses — even a swimming pool. In the latter case, an individual was shooting at a deer, missed, and the round finished its flight into the side of a guy’s above-ground pool, puncturing it. Our officers take quite a bit of time going to the scene, reconstructing things to determine if negligence caused the property damage.

Isn’t that hard to do?

While interviewing the hunter and trying to recreate the scene, we also have an officer with a dog, a German shepherd named Nitro, that’s trained to sniff out shell casings. The dog can often locate the shell casings so we can determine where the shot was fired.

That’s amazing. What other techniques do you use?

We had a complaint from a person who heard a vehicle and gunshot at night. The officer found the carcass of the deer and cut out a 30-06 round. Through a partial description of the vehicle, he found a nearby hunting camp where the vehicle may have come from. A search warrant was executed and two 30-06 rifles were seized. Yesterday, we submitted the rifles to the crime lab in Onondaga County to do ballistics to see if the round came from one of the two rifles.

It seems that cooperation from the general public is crucial.

We have had many apprehensions as a result of people calling in complaints through 911 or our 24-hour dispatch number. Every complaint gets answered, 24-7. We answered a call concerning deer jackers at 1 a.m. Thanksgiving morning (in Madison County) Through the end of October, we answered 1,100 complaints and our officers patrolled almost 400,000 miles in this region, resulting in 1,800 arrests — and that didn’t even include the deer hunting season.

I understand the DEC makes use of mechanical deer on the side of roads to help in the arrest of night-time poachers and hunters who illegally shoot deer from the road during the day.

Yes, we’ve had tickets issued this year to people who’ve shot mechanical deer in Region 7. We also have a mechanical turkey.

How many of these do you have and where have they been used?That’s a closely guarded secret.

To report poachers

If you suspect someone is violating the state’s fish and wildlife laws, call 911 or the DEC’s 24-hour hotline at 1-877-457-5680.

DEC ticket summary

A summary of tickets issued Nov. 17-21 in Onondaga County by the DEC:

Trespass: three violations

Discharging a firearm from a roadway: one misdemeanor ticket

Possession of a loaded firearm on a motor vehicle: five misdemeanor tickets, including two in Morgan Hill State Reforestation area, one from a road hunting incident in Lafayette and one shooting from an ATV.

Use of a rifle in a shotgun only area: one violation)

Tagging violations: five, including failure to tag a deer, failure to fill out a carcass tag, failure to consign a doe tag

Illegal deer take: three violations

Making a false statement in applying for a license: one misdemeanor ticket

Failure to report a deer harvest during bow season: one violation

Placing salt licks on lands inhabited by deer: one violation

Feeding deer: one violation

Use of a motor vehicle to take deer: one violation

Sale of a doe tag: one violation

Shooting within 500 feet: one misdemeanor ticket

Hunting with no back tag: one violation

Hunting without a license: two violations

Use of a doe tag from an improper wildlife management unit: one violation

In addition, Onondaga County officers assisted in investigating four hunter-related shootings in other counties (Cortland and Tompkins) including three property damage incidents and one personal injury incident (hunter shot in the leg.) Investigations are continuing for these incidents.

— Source: DEC

Sampling of tickets

The following is a sampling of tickets recently issued by local environmental conservation officers in Region 7 in Central New York. All firearm-related offenses are misdemeanors; the rest are violations.

Hunting without a valid license

Ronald R. Smith, 51, 1815 Poplar Ridge Road, Poplar Ridge, ticketed Oct. 16, town Venice

Richard J. Huggins, 37, 1116 S. Salina St., Syracuse, ticketed Nov. 20, town of Fabius.

Donald S. Partin II, 28, 14130 Cosgrove Road, Sterling, ticketed Oct. 30, town of Sterling.

Steven K. Titus, 42, 45 Morris St., Auburn, ticketed Nov. 19, town of Ledyard.

Richard S. Loerzel, 56, 4424 Big Bethel Road, Yorktown, Va., ticketed Nov. 22, town of Springport.

Jeremy J. Gulbranson, 27, 3724 Patchett Road, Baldwinsville, ticketed Nov. 21, town of Lysander.

Stefan F. Sykes, 19, 74 Winchester Drive, Fairport, Nov. 27, town of Mentz.

Frank Sykes, 46, 74 Winchester Drive, Fairport, ticketed Nov. 27, town of Mentz.

Michael H. Rogers, 49, House No. 13, Outlet Road, Piseco, ticketed Oct. 22, town of Mentz.

Duane C. Otis, 47, 9462 LeBeau Lane, Brewerton, ticketed Nov. 22, town of Manlius.

Alan B. Casler, 51, 3131 Route 20, Marcellus, ticketed Nov. 26, town of Marcellus.

Discharge firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling:

Devin D. Kellar, 19, 56 Junior Ave., Fulton, ticketed Nov. 26, town of Granby.

Arthur F. Marshfield, 48, 113 Wilshirl Drive, North Syracuse, ticketed Nov. 20, town of Fabius.

Mathew A. Sovocool, 17, 20 Keeler Ave., Moravia, ticketed Nov. 28, town of Moravia.

Peter R. Hamilton, 42, 2851 Buckley Hill Road, Moravia, ticketed Nov. 20, town of Moravia.

Discharge firearm from public highway:

Stephen M. Furgal, 52, 124 Maity Ave. Mattydale, ticketed Nov. 13, town of Orwell.

Samuel R. Sickles, 49, 6225 The Hamlet, Jamesville, ticketed Nov. 16, town of Lafayette.

Daniel R. Hastings, 47, 1603 Corey Road, King Ferry, ticketed Nov. 26, town of Venice.

Discharge firearm across a highway:

Gregory J. Hess, 61, Lebanon Hill Road, Eaton, ticketed Nov. 26, town of Lebanon.

Dennis J. Bushneck, no age given, 4065 Nelson Road, Cazenovia, ticketed Nov. 19, town of Nelson.

Michael J. Williams, 49, 392 S. Albion Road, Altmar, ticketed Nov. 19, town of Sempronius.

Illegal taking of anterless deer

Stephen M. Furgal, 53, 124 Maity Ave. Mattydale, ticketed Nov. 13, town of Orwell.

— compiled by Chad Miller

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog