WA: Castle Rock man gets citation for killing deer within Kelso city limits

October 27, 2009

Castle Rock man gets citation for killing deer within Kelso city limits

A Castle Rock man was cited and released for illegal discharge of a firearm Tuesday morning after he shot a deer within Kelso city limits, a buck that may have been a favorite of residents at a nearby assisted-living center.

Dannie Lee Applebury, 53, told Kelso police he is a disabled hunter and is allowed to hunt from the roadway.

"I explained to him that he was inside the city limits and that discharge of a firearm was prohibited," Kelso police officer Kirk Wiper wrote in his report. Applebury told police he was unaware he was inside the city limits, the report said.

The shooting took place about 8:45 a.m. in the 100 block of Corduroy Road in East Kelso near the Crawford House, an assisted-living home. Applebury told police his son, Dannie Lee Applebury Jr., who works at Crawford House, had given him permission to hunt on the property.

Kathryn Hart, director at Crawford House, confirmed to police that the younger Applebury worked there, but he didn't have authority to give anyone permission to hunt on the land, the report said.

"(Hart) said residents of Crawford House routinely feed the deer in the area and consider them pets," Wiper wrote in his report, which did not specify the type of gun Applebury used to shoot the deer.

Hart later also told police she had contacted Dannie Lee Applebury Jr. by phone, and he told her he had not given his father permission, according to the report.

A younger son, Raymond Thomas Applebury, 21, was with his father at the time of the shooting, the report said. After Applebury was cited and released, he told police "I know what I did was wrong," the report said.

He then asked police officers to help him load the deer into his truck. Wiper declined, noting that Applebury and his younger son already had pulled the deer up a steep grade and across the roadway.

Applebury has 15 days to respond to the citation. The maximum sentence for illegal discharge of a firearm within the city limits is 365 days in jail and/or $10,250 in fines.

Because Applebury had a legal hunting license and the deer was of legal size and sex, a state wildlife agent told Kelso police there was no hunting violation.

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