The buck that got shanked in a snare | CDFW
In July, California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers spent two nights sitting on a patch of ground in the Monterey area looking to make good on a tip that someone was out there running snares on deer. In what is an, albeit quiet way to take deer, the method is unconventional to say the least. On their initial pass they found cable snares strung from a tree along with remnants of what the tipster had described including a blood trail, drag marks and evidence that a deer had already been killed and hauled out.
On the second night, officers hit the jackpot and managed to catch two people servicing the traps.
Now with suspects in custody, investigators were able to conclude that the pair had captured and killed three deer, one of which was a buck. According to CDFW, the suspects admitted the animal was alive in the snare when they came upon it and finished it with the aid of knives and sticks.
They weren’t after rabbits with that snare | CDFW
Officers booked both into Monterey County Jail and seized knives, antlers, four snares, and deer meat. The charges on the presser are the usual stack for this kind of work and include unlawful method of take, hunting without a license, taking deer with a trap, and hunter trespass. As of right now, CDFW has not released names and the arrest sat for roughly six weeks before the agency put it out, which usually means they were still tying the file together or deciding how much of the ugly part to print.
California obviously does not allow the use of snare or the trapping deer for hunting purposes (no state does). Using them on a blacktail or muley in the Central Coast hills, then stabbing the animal out of the cable, is poaching with a cruelty problem attached. Whether prosecutors add an animal-cruelty count on top of the Fish and Game Code is the next thing to watch.
A court date has not been announced at this time.
