How Not to Hunt Deer

POLK COUNTY, December 23, 2010 - Shortly before midnight on Dec. 3, Polk County Game Wardens Ryan Hall and David Johnson observed a vehicle traveling very slowly down a county road, occasionally turning so its headlights illuminated the right of way.

The wardens stopped the vehicle and found the driver in possession of a loaded .22 Magnum rifle.

He later said he had been hunting white-tailed deer from the roadway. Early the next morning,

Hall returned to the area and recovered a yearling white-tailed deer near the scene. The animal had a fresh small caliber bullet hole in its neck. The suspected night hunter implicated another subject as well, and additional charges were filed on both subjects. These included a Class A misdemeanor waste of game charge for the shooter, who claimed responsibility for not coming back for the deer. Cases and civil restitution are pending.