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Shooting deer while driving drunk was stress relief, Michigan man told investigators
By Mitchell Willetts June 29, 2022 4:37 PM
A Michigan man is accused of poaching deer, shooting the animals with a handgun while driving drunk, state wildlife officials say. A Michigan man is accused of poaching deer, shooting the animals with a handgun while driving drunk, state wildlife officials say. Getty Images/iStockphoto
An investigation into poaching led Michigan wildlife officials to uncover one man’s bizarre and dangerous form of stress relief, authorities said.
Beginning in the winter, wildlife officers noticed dead deer with gunshot wounds were piling up in northeast Kent County, their bodies often close to the rural roadways outside of nearby Grand Rapids, the state Department of Natural Resources said in a June 24 release.
By mid-February, DNR officers had investigated at least 13 deer shot and left to rot in the area around Nelson and Spencer townships, wildlife officials said.
Tips started trickling in from callers saying they’d hear gunshots at night and find fresh carcasses in the morning. Reports came from different properties and locations.
There were rumors that someone was driving around in the dark, taking shots at deer from behind the wheel, one tipster told investigators. They pointed to a local man, 29-year-old Cedar Springs resident Edward Trout, the release said.
Investigators interviewed Trout and he admitted to cruising and shooting on three occasions, killing a total of five deer, wildlife officials said.
It was therapeutic, he explained, driving his pickup truck with the music cranked loud, a handgun at the ready to fire at deer he’d spot in the fields and roads as he passed, often drunk or high or both, he told investigators. The overall experience “relieved frustration.”
It’s not clear how many of these violent night time excursions Trout has gone on, but the number is greater than the three he initially claimed, according to officials. Investigators confronted Trout with text messages “where he openly told people about his illegal activities,” indicating these behaviors began as early as 2020.
“We’re grateful for the concerned community members who reported the many dead, gunshot deer that were discovered throughout these communities, which helped officers identify a suspect,” Chief Dave Shaw, of the DNR Law Enforcement Division, said in a release. “The suspect has continued to display repetitive, unethical behavior while stealing public trust resources and allowing them to go to waste.”
In early June, several months after launching the deer poaching investigation, officials received a new tip that Trout was spearing snapping turtles at a lake near Cedar Springs. This is illegal for two reasons: The turtles are out of season, and they are only allowed to be caught with a trap or hook line, the release said.
Trout said he was spearing the turtles out of concern for the safety of his children, who might have otherwise been harmed by the turtles while fishing in the lake, according to officials.
If convicted of the charges against him, Trout faces jail time and thousands of dollars in fines, according to officials. His fishing and hunting privileges have also been suspended, and officers confiscated a gun, a crossbow and a homemade spear.
Trout pleaded not guilty on Friday, June 24, and he is due to reappear in court on July 19.
