FL: Nighttime deer hunt leads to charges for three Tampa men
Nighttime deer hunt leads to charges for three Tampa men
By Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
TAMPA - Early Monday, a woman drove into a scene that could have been
from a detective movie. She saw three men loading what looked like a
body into the trunk of a vehicle along Interstate 75, according to Gary
Morse, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman.
The woman, whose name was not released, called 911. She followed the
men to Lake Magdalene Boulevard and Florida Avenue, where a Hillsborough
County sheriff's deputy pulled over their car at 2:45 a.m.
Inside, deputies found two dead deer, a buck and a doe, along with at
least one rifle and a spotlight.
The men in the car were identified as Eliecer Delapaz, 38, of 3401 N
MacDill Ave., Elioenai Gonzalez, 39, of 2521 W Beach St. and Elionai
Silverio, 19, also of the Beach Street address.
They were charged with the unlawful taking of deer.
According to the Conservation Commission, this region's season for
hunting deer runs through Jan. 18. But Morse said hunting at night with
a light is always illegal. Temporarily blinded by light, deer make an
easy target.
"It's essentially like shooting fish in a barrel," Morse said. "It's
unsportsmanlike."
Morse said any hunter knows the hunting hours: a half-hour before
sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. He calls those who skirt the rules
poachers.
"Real hunters don't do stuff like that," Morse said.
Delapaz, Gonzalez and Silverio were taken to the Hillsborough County
Jail. All three were released on bail of $500 to $1,000.
