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Hunting
Accident File > VIOLATIONS: > 2003
HUNTERS CAUGHT POACHING
By Mike McWilliams
Iowa City Press-Citizen
- 10 December 2003
OXFORD - A group of eight hunters face thousands of
dollars in fines and forfeited property after they were caught poaching deer
near Oxford.
Kyle Jensen, a conservation officer with the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources, said the number of vehicles with out-of-state
license plates aroused his suspicion.
"I ran their tags and figured out what (hunting) licenses
they had and went from there," Jensen said.
Many of them did not have valid deer hunting licenses. Six
of the eight were charged with using walkie-talkies to help them track deer.
It is illegal to use a radio or mobile communications device to track or
hunt wildlife in Iowa.
The charge carries an $82 fine.
Charged are:
- James Lewis, 35, of Iowa City.
- Doug Eckrich, 32, of Oxford, also charged with no valid
deer license.
- Christopher Downes, 20, of Oxford, also charged with no
valid deer license.
- Keith Bryant, 36, of Williamsburg, also charged with
possessing another person's deer tag.
- Craig McNitt, 35, of Irma, Wis., also charged with two
counts of taking illegal deer.
- Monte Sparks, 32, of Broken Arrow, Okla., also charged
with taking illegal deer.
- Richard Bryant, 50, of Oxford, charged with unlawful
transportation of a deer.
- Dan Campbell, 36, Louisville, Ky., charged with taking
an illegal deer.
Hunting with another person's deer tag carries an $82
fine; hunting without a deer license is punishable by a fine of $49.50; taking
illegal deer, $147; no valid deer license, $147.
Jensen said McNitt will have to pay an additional $5,500
in fines - the value of the two deer he shot. His shotgun, valued at
$800, also was seized.
McNitt will appear in Johnson County District Court on
Dec. 22.
Campbell will pay $1,500 for the doe he shot. He will
appear in Johnson County District Court on Dec. 22.
Sparks also had his shotgun seized and will pay $1,500 for
a doe he shot. He is scheduled to appear in Iowa County District Court on
Jan. 12.
"When you get 14 citations and four illegal deer ... it's
pretty significant, I'd say," said Craig Jackson, DNR law
enforcement supervisor.
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