Accounts of Illegal Hunting
Often hunters refer to how upstanding their actions are including how they are legal law abiding citizens. I have no doubt that some hunters are indeed law abiding. However, to conclude from this that all hunters follow the law is a faulty assumption. I have created this page for the benefit of the hunters and the animal rights activist. For the hunter because it is necessary to have the person who would assert that hunters are law abiding see that some do violate law. For the activist because they will be able to refer back to this page when such a claim is made. Illegal hunting activities occur with such frequency that it is easy to conclude that hunters routinely violate the law, indeed, some do. Care should be taken however, to refrain from assuming that this is how all hunters act. Just as there are those who violate law, there are also those who uphold it to the highest degree.
The following accounts likely occured in January and February as they were listed in the March, 2003 free publication called Adventure Sports Outdoors: The Voice of the American Sportsman. This publication can be picked up at a variety of hunting, fishing, and outdoor retailers throughout Illinois
“A CPO talked with a successful handgun deer hunter at the check station in Elizabeth on 01/17. On Saturday the same CPO received a complaint of hunters trespassing in the Galena Territory area, a popular resort community in Jo Daviess County. The complaint stated that the hunters were covering their blaze orange to avoid detection. The CPO located three hunters later that morning in the area, one of which was the hunter at the check station on the seventeenth. Numerous citations were issued”
[CPO stands for Conservation Police Officer. It appears in almost every account listed below.]
“A Sgt, issued four citations to a group of hunters in Fulton County, for Failure to Punch their goose cards in the central quota zone as required”
“A CPO cited a subject for possession of a dead flying squirrel. The case was made after the defendant allowed the Officer into his residence”
“A CPO arrested a Mt. Caramel, IL, man for shinning violations and illegal hunting between sunset and sunrise in Wayne County. The man was also cited for possession of an uncased/unloaded 30.06 rifle and both rifle and spotlight were seized pending disposition”
[It is illegal in the state of Illinois to hunt deer with any type of rifle. This is something to watch for in the following accounts as there are a number of firearm violations listed below.]
“A CPO cited a Sullivan, IL, man for possession of two firearm deer permits belonging to another person while hunting deer in Wayne County”
“A CPO cited a Georgia man for hunting without permission and possession of an untagged deer in Franklin County. A CPO additionally cited a Florida man for failure to tag a deer when he attempted to take off his blaze orange and conceal himself from being observed. Officer Hiller additionally cited a Franklin County man for allowing his son to shoot and not tag a deer and transport it home on an ATV”
“A CPO cited a husband and wife for raccoon hunting in Saline County without a valid FOID and no hunting license”
“A CPO cited a Perry County man for dumping deer carcass parts into a ditch along a public right of way. The subject was apprehended when the Officer located a deer tag on one of the deer legs that was discarded along the roadway ditch”
“A CPO cited an Alabama subject for no valid firearm deer permit. The CPO noted that this hunter was with some other out of state hunters that were cited and thought to be hunting with an outfitter known from time to time to hunt in an illegal manner”
“Two CPO’s cited two Ramsey, IL, men for uncased firearms and shooting from the road after they shot from their vehicle at a ‘deer decoy’ in Fayette County that the Officers had placed in a wooded area near a roadway”
“A CPO cited four men in Poe and Johnson Counties for a variety of deer violations, i.e., no blaze orange, archery hunting during firearm season, allowing a minor to commit a wildlife offense, hunting deer with invalid permit and failure to tag a deer”
“A CPO cited an Edwards County man for exceeding the daily limit of cottontail rabbits near Browns, IL”
“A CPO had received a TIP’s complaint involving a shinning violation in late November. The complaint only gave a partial description of a vehicle, however, the CPO observed a vehicle in Salem, IL, several days later, with a driver also fitting a brief personal description. Upon approach to the man, the Officer was able to get the subject to give him an interview at the Sheriff’s Department. The interview led to several additional interviews indicating that two deer had been killed out of season at different times and location by five subjects. Additional charges were filed for a variety of offenses and one firearm along with 30 lbs of venison and an automobile were seized. One subject is a felon and facing felon in possession of a firearm charges”
[I’m not sure what the author intended to write when he/she stated “facing felon.” Maybe it was supposed to be “facing felony” or “facing prison,” both of which would be true for a convicted felon.]
“A CPO cited five subjects during the firearm deer season for hunting with rifles, untagged deer, unlawful transfer of deer permits, hunting without permission, and uncased/loaded firearms on an ATV. The Officer made these apprehensions in three different incidents in Pulaski and Union Counties”
“Two CPO’s cited seven subjects in Pulaski, Johnson and Williamson Counties for several deer violations at different incidents. All the violations included hunting without permission, hunting deer over bait and no valid deer permits, stamps and non-resident license infractions”
“A Sgt, cited a Union County man for killing a deer from his truck on a public right of way, uncased/loaded firearm, and failing to tag a deer before transporting near a Mississippi River levee in Jackson County”
“A CPO cited an Alexander County man who he had viewed hunting from his vehicle two or three nights before he could get up to him in the field. On the third attempt to catch him, the subject shot a doe from the driver’s seat when the officer walked up to the window. Several wildlife violations were filed along with equipment seizures of rifles, etc”
“A CPO cited a father and son for numerous wildlife violations during the muzzleloading deer season. Both were found to have deer slugs in their possession, transport uncased firearms, no blaze orange clothing and a parental responsibility infraction for allowing a minor to commit a wildlife offense”
[A muzzleloader (also called a musket) is a firearm which does not use cartridges. It’s use dates back to colonial times and is loaded by pouring gun powder down the barrel (muzzle) of the gun followed by a patch (to hold the powder in place) and a musket ball (projectile). The charge is then packed tightly with a rod slid down the barrel to compact the powder. When the rod is removed the weapon is ready to fire. After a single shot the procedure must be repeated.]
“Two CPO’s arrested two Effingham, IL, men for shinning violations and transporting loaded/uncased firearms in a motor vehicle in Jasper County”
“A CPO cited a pair of Perry County men for shooting across a public right of way and allowing a minor to commit a wildlife offense. The two subjects were involved in a deer drive when one man shot across a road striking a vehicle which a woman and children who were traveling through. The slug smashed through the passenger side of the vehicle causing glass lacerations to one passenger only who was treated and released at a local hospital”
“Two CPO’s cited a father and son from Missouri and Tennessee hunting during the firearm season without non-resident deer permits and license, taking deer over baited area and failure to tag deer at kill site. Evidence seized were one buck deer, shelled corn and a firearm”
“A CPO responded to a report of a vehicle shinning deer and shots fired in Williamson County. Upon investigation he interviewed persons who owned the property and called the complaint in. The CPO then located a six point buck in a pasture and took a position of surveillance near the roadway where the deer had been shot. A truck arrived with three occupants that began pulling the deer from the field to load in the truck bed when the officer stepped out of his place of concealment. A loaded 270 cal. Rifle along with a spotlight was located in the truck. The two local subjects and another man from Arkansas were charged with fourteen (14) counts of wildlife infractions along with firearm and other equipment seizures”
[A .270 is a high-powered rifle; illegal for deer hunting in Illinois]
“A Louisiana man pled guilty to hunting deer with a poison arrow after being cited by a CPO in Wayne County. The subject paid $712.00 in fines and court costs”
“A CPO cited a Perry County man for hunting without permission, wanton waste of a deer and failure to check deer at check station. Although the subject was apprehended on the first charge while leaving a private block of timber, he failed to recover a deer he had harvested and tagged therefore leaving it behind. The Officer located the deer several days later and filed the latter charges”
“A CPO was investigating a shinning deer incident in Fayette County and although he had no idea who killed a deer, it was apparent that one had been recently killed and recovered by blood and remains in the snow. A few days later, the Officer set up for an evening patrol in the same area and a vehicle came by shinning a light. A vehicle stop and subsequent interview resulted in the arrest of two subjects that confessed to the previous illegal activity along with the illegal activities they were currently involved in. Both subjects were arrested with seizure of spotlight, rifle and packaged venison withheld as evidence”
“A CPO apprehended an Indiana subject hunting rabbits with a crossbow in Jackson County. The subject also failed to produce a valid hunting license. The Officer seized the crossbow pending forfeiture and was given two citations for wildlife infractions”
“A CPO cited three Indiana subjects with failure to maintain separate bag limits (migratory waterfowl) and a fourth subject for taking migratory game bird (pintail) during closed season. The subjects were apprehended while waterfowl hunting on the Cache River in Pulaski County”
“District #15 CPO’s along with DOI investigators executed arrest and search warrants in Jasper County on a small meat processing plant involving deer poaching with several persons, some of which are convicted felons. Seized were meat grinders, band saws, electric lifts, meat saws and knives along with freezers, several firearms, a truck and two ATV’s”
“A CPO responded to a TIP’s complaint of a vehicle shinning deer at the Horseshoe Lake Refuge in Alexander County. Upon arrival the officer located the subjects and placed them under arrest for numerous wildlife and criminal violations. The two subjects were found to be in possession of deer shinning, open alcohol, illegal use of a motor vehicle and stolen property. Further investigation revealed that the duo had been on a deer shooting spree throughout Pulaski and Alexander counties and had shot perhaps as many as eight (8) deer with a 22 cal. Rifle while on their outing before being apprehended. Items seized involved 10 goose decoys stolen from the WMA, a rifle, Ford pickup truck, spotlight along with a variety of other illegal items”
[I’m not sure what is being referred to by the acronym WMA. However, considering that the suspects were poaching deer at a refuge I would guess WMA to stand for Wildlife Management Area.]
“An Alexander county man paid $1,100.00 for three deer violations after being apprehended by a CPO for killing a deer from his motor vehicle. He was additionally ordered to forfeit a 243 rifle and a set of binoculars to the DNR”
[A .243 is a high-powered rifle; illegal for deer hunting in Illinois]
[DNR stands for Department of Natural Resources.]
“While patrolling Vermillion county late one night a CPO observed a spotlight sweeping a field in an area east of his location. The CPO was able to locate the spotlight and its user a couple miles from his original location. The Officer waited for the truck to drive towards his location where he initiated a head on stop. With the truck cab lighted up by the headlights the CPO watched as the driver tried to unload a long gun and hide it on the floorboard. An uncased 30-30 rifle was found on the floorboard with the live rounds that the driver had ejected out of it at the time of the stop. The subject was arrested for spotlighting and transporting a loaded uncased gun in a motor vehicle. The rifle and spotlight were also seized”
[A 30/30 is a high-powered rifle; illegal for deer hunting in Illinois, as is spotlighting]
“A CPO was called out in Clark County regarding a shinning complaint. After observing a vehicle shinning, a Clark County landowner got into his truck and followed the shiners throughout the country ending up in the town of Marshall at an adult bookstore. The landowner contacted a city police officer and they contacted the CPO. The Officer responded to the scene and interviewed the subjects and the landowner. The vehicle occupants were arrested for shining”
“A CPO arrested a Champaign county man for attempting to take pheasants by use of a motor vehicle and transporting a loaded uncased gun. While working an airplane detail in Champaign County the CPO was directed to a cut bean field where the plane had observed a pickup truck driving around the field. The Officer met the vehicle as it was leaving the field and initiated the stop on it. The vehicle driver was found to have a loaded uncased 12 gauge shotgun laying across the seat. When asked what he was doing with a loaded gun driving around the bean field, he advised that he often see pheasants in this field and thought he would shoot a couple. The driver described his self as a “real sportsman and conservationist” and pointed out to the Officer that “it wasn’t like he was out Slaughtering everything in site”. The CPO was not swayed by the hunters explanation. He still was arrested”
[Conservation officers often utilize an airplane to spot potential offenders and alert ground units to the suspected location]
“While traveling on I-72 a Lt. noticed a car parked in the cornfield north of the interstate. The car was running and occupied as it was parked next to the fence that separates the cornfield from the interstate property. The Lt. turned around to investigate the car and its occupant in the field. As the Officer walked across the ditch he could see a large group of Geese on the ground about 30-40 yards North of the parked vehicle and could see the driver looking at the geese. When the Lt. started to climb the fence the driver immediately looked to the rear of his vehicle and began backing up through the field. The driver did not stop immediately at the verbal commands given by the Lt. so he pursued the vehicle on foot for approximately 75-100 yards when the driver eventually stopped. The driver jumped from his vehicle and wanted to know why the Lt. was chasing his vehicle. Unable to immediately respond to the driver’s question due to a lack of oxygen, he took control of the loaded uncased shotgun that was lying on the passenger’s seat. The driver insisted that he was hunting rabbits along the brush of the interstate not the geese he was parked to. The driver was quite surprised to find out that rabbit season was no longer in and that hunting them out of a vehicle was also illegal”
“A CPO reported the conclusion of an unlawful taking of whitetail deer case from 1999. This case involved an Indiana man who rifled a trophy 12 pt buck in Illinois and then took it to Indiana and tried to check it in as an Indiana kill. The man pleaded guilty to 1 count of a misdemeanor lacy act violation. The plea agreement involved: cooperation with the government against others, forfeiture of two firearms 7mm savage rifle model110 GBXP, a 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun and the forfeiture of all deer antlers seized in the investigation (1- 10 pt rack, 1-11 pt skull and a 12 point rack). 2 years probation, 4 months home confinement wearing a monitor, shall not possess firearms, destructive devices, or any other dangerous weapons, no alcohol or drugs, no hunting or harming or wildlife during probation or supervision, complete program for substance abuse and pay $500.00 in fines”
“A CPO was notified by the state police that a private citizen was holding 4 subjects that he had caught hunting without permission and had killed a deer with a rifle. A deputy was dispatched to the scene to hold the subjects for the CPO. Upon arrival the Officer interviewed the subjects and they admitted to hunting coyotes without permission and shooting a deer when it appeared in front of them on a trail. Charges of unlawful possession of deer during closed season and unlawful taking of deer by rifle were filed. This same subject had been arrested this past fall for the unlawful taking of Whitetail deer”
“On 1/4/03 a CPO cited a Litchfield, Illinois man for two deer hunting violations at Sangchris Lake State Park. Archery hunters must first harvest a doe and no bucks with less than 5 points a side may be taken at the site. Our hunter killed an 8 point buck as his first deer”
[By “five points a side” the author is attempting to iterate that any antlered deer killed must have no less than five points (tines) on each side of its rack (antlers). An 8 point buck would fall short of this requirement. This is not a standing law for all areas so I would imagine that this is an attempt to “manage” the deer population at this particular site]
“On 1/5/03 a CPO cited a Niles, Illinois man for taking a hen pheasant at Jim Edger Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area”
[Only male, or cock, pheasants are legal to kill]
“On 1/8/03 two CPO’s responded to complaint of geese being shot from a moving motor boat near the Meredosia power plant. Witnesses working at the plant were able to observe three Beardstown men shoot the geese. Two were killed out right. Two were crippled. One CPO was able to observe the subjects chasing on of the crippled geese. Later the officer found where the subjects hid a goose on the riverbank. He hid himself and was able to observe as they returned to pick it up. Charges are pending after a review of videotapes made by security cameras”
[This is what you call “hometown proud.” This type of scenario seems to occur often in Beardstown (my hometown in case you were unaware).]
“On 1/12/03 a CPO responded to a call for help from Carlinville Police Department. The Carlinville police were responding to a complaint of a landowner chasing a vehicle that had been spotlighting and shooting near the landowners residence. Eventually a vehicle occupied by three Gillespie, Illinois juveniles was stopped. The vehicle contained two spotlights, a .22-.250 rifle and .22 magnum rifle, and a 20 gauge shotgun. All were loaded. The subjects gave statements and were released to their parents. A few days later numerous charges were filed against all three”
[A .22/.250 is a high-powered rifle; illegal for deer hunting in Illinois. A .22 is not high-powered but is still illegal for use in killing deer.]
“Also, on 1/18/03 a CPO cited a Spencer, Indiana man and an Evansville, Illinois man for hunting rabbits from a roadway. Neither had blaze orange on and the Indiana man did not have a non resident license and his gun was unplugged”
[A normal shotgun can hold five rounds of ammunition, but when hunting it is only legal to have three loaded. Therefore shotguns come with a plug that takes the space of two shells so that only three can be loaded into the weapon. This hunter had removed his plug so that he could fire more successive shots at game animals.]
“On 1/19/03 a CPO found a Rockbridge, Illinois man deer hunting with a .223 rifle. The subjects FOID card it was learned was revoked due to active orders of protection”
[FOID is a card issued by the state of Illinois. It stands for Firearm Owners Identification. Simply, if you own a gun in Illinois you must also possess a FOID card. A .223 is a high-powered rifle; illegal for deer hunting in Illinois] (B-16)
“On 1/19/03 a Sgt. Cited a Peoria, Illinois man for possession of a firearm in the field after already taking a deer. The subject hid his Ruger .44 Blackhawk at the sight of our officer. The Sergeant set up surveillance and apprehended the subject when he returned to pick up the gun”
[The Ruger .44 Blackhawk is a handgun. In the designated season it is legal to hunt deer with a handgun. However, when a hunter no longer has an unfilled permit (he/she has killed all they can legally kill), it is illegal to continue carrying a firearm.]
“On 1/19/03 with the help of Adams County Sheriff’s deputies a Sgt. Cited two Quincy, Illinois men for hunting too close to residence and taking over limit of rabbits. By following tracks in the snow Officer Sanders found two locations the violators had hidden freshly killed rabbits”
“On 1/26/03 a Sgt. and a CPO began an investigation into the taking of two deer out of season by an Augusta, Illinois and a Plymouth, Illinois man. Two deer were recovered from a shed. One man was able to give a statement admitting he shot the deer with a .22. The other man was passed out in a drunken stupor, a nightly event according to his friend. Further investigation revealed that the deer were killed with a brand new SKS rifle. Subjects claimed to have shot the deer because they were starving”
[An SKS rifle is the semi-automatic predecessor to the fully-automatic AK-47. It has been used by Russian and Vietnamese soldiers to name a few. Oh . . . and in case you haven’t guessed, it is illegal to shoot deer with a semi-automatic assault rifle.]
Note: If the reports from Region 2 had been listed the accounts above would have been even larger, however, Region 2 accounts were not published in the March Issue. Also, these are merely the accounts in Illinois for one section of the year. It must also be conceived that given the area conservation officers must cover that many offenders go unnoticed and therefore are not ticketed for illegal activity.
Disclaimer: No absolute assertion of guilt is implied by the listing of this information. Subjects are found either innocent or guilty via the legal system.
Works Cited
"IDNR Police: Region 1 Monthly Activity Report." Adventure Sports Outdoors March 2003: A14
"IDNR Police: Region 3 Monthly Activity Report." Adventure Sports Outdoors March 2003: B7
"IDNR Police: Region 4 Activity." Adventure Sports Outdoors March 2003: B16-17
"IDNR Police: Region 5 Law Enforcement." Adventure Sports Outdoors March 2003: B4-6
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Posted/Updated: 9/26/04
