Quite the haul | CDFW
It was late last month when California wildlife officers caught up with and booked a suspect into the Kern County jail after serving a warrant at a Bakersfield residence. Announcing the arrest last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife later detailed their findings which included 931 illegally taken black bass, six sets of deer antlers and packages of suspected deer and bear meat.
So far the suspect has remained unnamed, but booked allegations include unlawful take of deer, unlawful possession of deer, hunting without a license, taking fish and wildlife at more than three times the daily bag limit, and taking fish and wildlife for profit.
The charges followed months of investigation, during which, DCFW said a wildlife officer had identified a suspect tied to numerous poaching incidents, and that the evidence established probable cause to believe the suspect had killed several deer without a hunting license or deer tags. Investigating officers said that they believed that some of those animals were taken out of season, while others were does and spike bucks, which could not legally be harvested.
A sampling of the illegal bass | CDFW
The haul described in the release came from a Bakersfield-area house (a warrant was also served at a Stallion Springs residence), where officers found an ice chest filled with 931 black bass, deer heads with antlers, and packaged meat they suspected was deer, along with packaged bear meat.
Samples of the meat and antlers were sent to CDFW’s Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, where DNA testing is expected to establish the sex and genetic profile of each sample and give investigators a count of how many deer and bears the suspect had. Those results have not been released and no court date has been reported.
