BearHunter
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Poachers drop a trophy buck in Baker County
The Associated Press
2/20/2004, 1:43 a.m. PT
BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police are looking for a poacher they believe killed one of Baker County's biggest mule deer bucks, possibly to sell the trophy rack of antlers.
The Oregon Hunters Association is offering a reward of up to $250 for information that helps police arrest a suspect or suspects, said State Police Lt. Randy Scorby.
Scorby said police also are investigating a second poaching case in which two bucks were shot and killed.
"Make no mistake, people who participate in this type of activity are not hunters, they are poachers," Scorby said. "There is no reason for this type of killing, other than greed."
He said police have interviewed two or three suspects, all Baker County residents, regarding the poaching of the two bucks. But none of the suspects has confessed, and officers have not gathered sufficient evidence to arrest anyone, Scorby said.
He said officers don't think their suspects in the poaching of the two bucks also killed the other, bigger buck.
The poaching of the largest buck probably happened on New Year's Day, Scorby said. He said several people told police they had seen the buck during the previous few weeks near Coyote Flats, about five miles south of Richland along the Snake River Road.
And all eyewitnesses agreed on one salient point: "I guess this thing was quite a monster," Scorby said.
This was a buck that people noticed. One person told police he initially mistook the buck for a bull elk — an animal that usually weighs two to three times as much as a deer.
Scorby said eyewitnesses estimated the spread between the bucks antlers was 30 inches to 34 inches — several inches wider than bucks considered trophies.
On Jan. 2, residents called police to report deer hair and blood spatters near the Snake River Road. Officers found a blood trail along the road, leading toward Richland. Scorby said he believes the poacher or poachers loaded the buck into the bed of a pickup truck, and blood from the carcass dripped from the truck onto the road.
Scorby said the investigation has stalled in part because — although several people saw the buck when it was alive — not a single eyewitness has reported seeing any suspicious activity connected to the poaching.
And he said officers can't even say with absolute certainty that the hair and blood came from the big buck.
The Associated Press
2/20/2004, 1:43 a.m. PT
BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police are looking for a poacher they believe killed one of Baker County's biggest mule deer bucks, possibly to sell the trophy rack of antlers.
The Oregon Hunters Association is offering a reward of up to $250 for information that helps police arrest a suspect or suspects, said State Police Lt. Randy Scorby.
Scorby said police also are investigating a second poaching case in which two bucks were shot and killed.
"Make no mistake, people who participate in this type of activity are not hunters, they are poachers," Scorby said. "There is no reason for this type of killing, other than greed."
He said police have interviewed two or three suspects, all Baker County residents, regarding the poaching of the two bucks. But none of the suspects has confessed, and officers have not gathered sufficient evidence to arrest anyone, Scorby said.
He said officers don't think their suspects in the poaching of the two bucks also killed the other, bigger buck.
The poaching of the largest buck probably happened on New Year's Day, Scorby said. He said several people told police they had seen the buck during the previous few weeks near Coyote Flats, about five miles south of Richland along the Snake River Road.
And all eyewitnesses agreed on one salient point: "I guess this thing was quite a monster," Scorby said.
This was a buck that people noticed. One person told police he initially mistook the buck for a bull elk — an animal that usually weighs two to three times as much as a deer.
Scorby said eyewitnesses estimated the spread between the bucks antlers was 30 inches to 34 inches — several inches wider than bucks considered trophies.
On Jan. 2, residents called police to report deer hair and blood spatters near the Snake River Road. Officers found a blood trail along the road, leading toward Richland. Scorby said he believes the poacher or poachers loaded the buck into the bed of a pickup truck, and blood from the carcass dripped from the truck onto the road.
Scorby said the investigation has stalled in part because — although several people saw the buck when it was alive — not a single eyewitness has reported seeing any suspicious activity connected to the poaching.
And he said officers can't even say with absolute certainty that the hair and blood came from the big buck.
