A 28-year-old southern Indiana man is facing more than 100 criminal charges after authorities say he and a few accomplices illegally killed dozens of white-tailed deer throughout the 2025 fall and winter seasons.
After tips poured in from a number of concerned citizens, an investigation into the allegations finally culminated with the arrest of Woodrow Snyder of Charlestown on June 4th.
On the morning of December 18, 2025, officers responded to a shots-fired complaint in the Charlestown area and were soon able to catch up with Snyder during a traffic stop. It was during that interaction that they discovered the bodies of multiple deer inside the vehicle, preceded by a number of discarded firearms along the roadway leading up to his truck.
Given the damning evidence inside and outside of the vehicle, Snyder and his passenger were arrested at the scene and the truck was seized as evidence.
What followed was the unsealing of an even bigger mess than expected. As investigating officers executed search warrants, interviews, and collected an extensive amount of physical and digital evidence, a larger operation was soon revealed. Authorities were eventually able to pin both Snyder and several accomplices with taking more than 30 white-tailed deer across two southern Indiana counties during the 2025 fall and winter seasons. Methods of take included the ever-popular jacklighting (blinding animals with lights at night) and hunting without licenses, from vehicles, and apparently without much regard for whose land they were on.
Based on their findings, officers slapped Snyder with a total of 109 charges across Clark and Jefferson counties. The selection of charges is a nice mix of both felony-level charges and misdemeanors. He’s up against three counts of obstruction of justice and 10 counts of illegal sale or shipment of wildlife, along with multiple counts of unlawful taking of deer, jacklighting, hunting without a license, hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle, use of private land without consent, and a few other related violations.
The illegal sales charges suggest some of the deer (or their parts) were sold commercially, though specific details about buyers, quantities, or transactions have not been publicly released.
Following his arrest, Snyder is now out on bond, with a court date looming in late July. The accomplices remain unnamed for now, and the full story will presumably come out as court proceedings unfold.
