Bowsite.com

The deer were mostly does and anterless deer, shot in zones where only bucks could be taken, and the crime may affect the DNR's attempt to rebuild the herd in those counties, Warden Supervisor Jeremy Peery said.

The DNR said it seized the deer so they didn't go to waste after an anonymous tip from a hunter who overheard some of the suspects talking about re-using deer tags.

The men, all from Taylor County, are accused of re- using deer tags, failing to tag deer and borrowing and loaning licenses, the agency said.

Six of the cases have been resolved, resulting in fines between $266 and $653, and one of the men lost hunting and fishing privileges for a year, the DNR said.

Peery said Thursday that those cases involved Clem Shrock, Melvin Mullet and Perry Yoder, all of Gilman; Lester Lambright and Merlin Yoder, both of Lublin; and Neal Borntrager of Thorpe.

The names of the other accused violators were not released because the court cases have not concluded, Peery said.

The original tip led to several investigations that uncovered the illegal activity, Peery said.

"We don't investigate groups of people killing 18 deer illegally on a regular basis," the warden said.

We have found 16 hides in fields we have plowed, and up to 50 around wooded areas. I will take wolves over the Amish Poachers we have. You have no idea how bad it really is.

Online and call-in registration isn't in place yet, so obviously these deer were poached WHILE THE CURRENT IN-PERSON REGISTRATION PROCESS WAS IN PLACE. Call-in registration won't make it any harder or easier to poach.

Deano, still alive? Or are you just loaning use of your account?

I think the intent of the post was to show folks that there already are a lot of illegal killings going on by "hunters".

"Call-in registration won't make it any harder or easier to poach."

I disagree, and believe that loss of in-person registration will make it a lot easier for cheats. In fact, it's almost a certainty that in-person registration — and the need for tags to bring in there — ended up being the only reason they were caught.

What about IA and IL? I believe MI does not.

MN has had online registration for a while except not in the SE part of the state for a couple of years when they went to the 4 points on one side rule. Now even that area went online. Funny part is I took the buck I shot this year in that 4 point rule zone to Gander Mt to register and the person had to walk out to my truck to see that it really did have 4 points. I said to him that seemed stupid since anyone cheating on the rule should be smart enough to do it online instead. He chuckled and said maybe.

I don't think either state has had much concern that the system was being abused.

I wasn't aware we had an "in-house" Amish deer hunter expert on our site. Valuable information!

ZERO problems here.

In fact I hunt on two of the Amish farms. I knocked on the door several years back, told them who I was and got the big "yes, you can hunt." Not only turkey, but deer as well.

I drop off turkey/deer and in return... my family is treated to Amish bread and maple syrup for my efforts.

The biggest problem we have here in our Amish community is the "English" folks who complain about the Amish "exhaust" left on the roadway!

Others allow me to hunt with my hawk and practice falconry on their land for rabbits. I even had one landowner come along with me and the wife on a falconry trip on his property.

I don't know where your "rouge" Amish came from but most of ours folks have come from the State of Pennsylvania.

Our Sheriff's Office has had no problems and our GW - no trouble at all.

I don't know of a kinder more peaceful people and trust me after 34 years of working I have met all kinds.

That being said - because people "are people", I'm sure they suffer some of the same issues as other folks and they tend to take care of those matters "in-house." That's not always practical or the best idea...at least in my small mind.

I enjoy these people as they have been nothing but kind and law abiding in my eyes.

Vandalism? Really? Huh, who would have thunk!

I have seen in adjoining counties were people have sprayed spray paint on houses stating "Amish go home" - I always wondered what I would do if I caught someone doing that?

Some folks don't like them because they apparently don't pay taxes or they cause damage to the roadway with their metal wheels on buggies.

I even had one person tell me not to stop at a local Amish bake stand because the Amish women use breast milk in their batter. Really?

Yep, quite a world.

I'm not an Amishologist - but I spend more time with these folks that the average Joe and I have nothing bad to say.

I'm almost certain they do pay taxes.

Back on topic, I'm glad the poachers got caught and are paying the price. BC

Poachers are poachers. The people above most likely have been doing this for years and finally got caught.

Are you going to get some people that cheat the system? Yup in every walk of life and everything we do IE Lance anyone? but just because we go to this system does not mean there is going to be some huge upswing of poaching. Most hunters are honest and the shady ones have always been that way.

Bonus buck = no thanks.

And this does not go on now? LOL

Like I said poachers will still poach that is not going to change. Kid/wife tags the old mans buck during archery season happens already. Will not change until they get caught.

Ye of little faith of your fellow hunters. I doubt ER makes a bunch of law abiding hunters turn poacher.

I like not having to drive deer to register them. Heck, in MI, you don't need to register them at all.

They are just using the round-a-bout way of wolf population control, remove the available food and they will die or leave. Simple really.

There are plenty of poachers who are not Amish. There are poachers who are Amish. There are Amish who are not poachers.

There seems to be different bands of Amish depending where you live. Some have very nice homes, treat their animals well and are law aboding citizens. Some run the property values down with their eyesore homes and disheveled appearance. Where I live they are not liked because of this, and there have been numerous violations for how they mistreat their own animals. A group of 20 or so were busted a few years back trespassing on land while deer hunting and killing deer they had no more tags for.

There are good Amish, and whiskered varmints. They for the most part certainly not stewards of the land. Not the group I live near.

I'll tell you what. The DNR knows the wolves are killing so many deer that they're going to transplant some elk in WI to feed them.

Bowmania

I have always said the wolves are not wearing any camo and blaze.... they kill a minimal amount compared to the blaze orange army and the camo toes....

Keep working on these so called improvements... and making it easier and easier for deer to be killed.. and you won't ha e much left to hunt. ..oh wait.. that is already the case in what ??? 20 counties....LOL... Got to love all those improvements..keep up the great work..

They also have very liberal tags for each of those predators.

There's also a ban on wolf harvest in and around Algonquin Provincial Park. The park itself is 2,955 square miles!

"Wolves in Algonquin Park eat three primary prey species which include White-tailed Deer, Moose, and Beaver. Wolves prey primarily on Deer, but both Moose and Beaver are very important secondary food sources, and may be the primary food sources at certain times of the year."

Enough studies out there that show if you take out the alpha male or female that the pack disperses. Packs hunt better than solo wolves.

I also do not think it is a coincidence that every place the wolf is expanding that the game animal populations are dropping like flies in the midwest and west. Yellowstone is a prime example with the elk. Wolves avg 22 elk per year, not sure how 18 deer a year would feed their hunger as elk at about 4 times the size.

Plenty of studies out there on how many elk each wolf was eating. The avg was 22 per year. 500lb elk is a lot of meat. How much of it they finish is another deal all together. If you look at a lot of the documentation from ID they leave 1/3 to a 1/2.

Today's landscape in the states has changed from 150 years ago. To try and say that we can have a natural ecosystem with cut up chunks of land is crazy and will not work any more and this is what we get.

37 guns, 28 sets of antlers among items seized in deer case

Charges have been filed against a number of violators following a five-year deer investigation recently completed by conservation officers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

On Oct. 21, conservation officers executed a search warrant on a residence in Dawson, Minnesota owned by Joshua Liebl, 37; simultaneously, other conservation officers conducted a traffic stop near Dawson on a pickup owned by and being driven by Liebl and executed a second search warrant on the truck.

Officers seized 37 guns and 28 sets of deer antlers from the residence, which included 11 shoulder mounts, most of which were trophy class animals. Also seized were four sets of elk antlers and a set of mule deer antlers. In a freezer, officers also discovered a fully intact piebald deer, which was untagged and had been killed with a high-powered rifle. Piebald deer have a spotting pattern of large white and black patches.

“Since 2004, Liebl has registered four deer,” said Lt. Gary Nordseth, DNR Enforcement district supervisor in the Marshall area.

Seized from the truck was a freshly killed eight-point whitetail buck, which investigators determined had been killed with a high-powered rifle.

At this time, Liebl’s Minnesota hunting privileges are revoked by the Wildlife Violator Compact due to a shining conviction in South Dakota in 2013.

The Wildlife Violator Compact is an agreement between states that recognizes the suspension of hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses in member states. Minnesota and South Dakota are among the 43 states that participate in the compact.

Also seized from the truck was a scoped .243 rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun, numerous rounds of ammunition for each firearm, and a spotlight.

Other evidence collected in the search warrants resulted in charges being filed against:

Kevin Martinson, 58, of Plymouth, for illegally lend/borrow a deer license. Nate Viesman, 32, of Watson, was charged with illegal party hunting, lend/borrow a deer license, over limit of deer (one of which was a trophy class buck) and two counts of failure to register deer. Daniel Lien, 33, also of Dawson, a passenger in Liebl’s truck when it was stopped on Oct. 21, has been charged with gross misdemeanor aiding and abetting unlawful transportation of big game. Liebl has been charged with gross misdemeanor transporting illegally taken big game, gross misdemeanor use of an artificial light to take deer, hunting during prohibited time, gross misdemeanor trespassing, and two counts of failure to register deer.

The investigation also resulted in the seizure of Liebl’s pickup truck, which will be auctioned off at a later date with the proceeds going to the DNR’s Game and Fish Fund.

“This case is the result of numerous Turn In Poachers (TIP) complaints from the public,” said Nordseth.

200 inches is now becoming talked about more frequently. When in the future will the 300's be posted by people and talked about more frequently.

I will show my ignorance November and say that QDM is deer managment with an asterik. Driven by scoring of racks hiding behind food etc to build a "healthy herd"