New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) have been very busy dealing with more than a dozen wildlife poachers across New York State, including hunters illegally taking whitetail deer, songbirds and numerous varieties of fish.
Cayuga County
On November 10th, ECO Prentice stopped a known deer poacher as the subject transported an untagged deer on an ATV in the town of Throop in Cayuga County, NY.
The subject claimed he had taken the deer with a crossbow despite evidence it had been shot with a shotgun. Officer Prentice eventually located a loaded 16-gauge shotgun nearby and issued four tickets to the individual, including two misdemeanors for unlawfully killing a deer and taking deer by means not specified (wrong implement).
Greene County
On November 16th, ECOs ended a year-long investigation with the apprehension of two New Jersey residents suspected of illegally taking a deer in the front yard of a residence in the town of Lexington, in Greene County, NY.
In November 2023, ECOs Palmateer and Smith responded to complaints from a homeowner who reported receiving an alert on his ring camera that captured a deer being shot and collapsing in his driveway. The surveillance video also showed two subjects back a black pick-up truck into the driveway before they finished killing the animal, loading it into the truck, and driving away.
Lieutenant Glorioso, along with ECOs Palmateer, Smith, and Hameline used several investigative techniques in the following months to narrow the subject vehicle down to a pick-up truck registered to a subject residing in New Jersey.
On November 16th, opening day of the 2024 Southern Zone regular firearms hunting season, Officers Palmateer and Smith located the suspect’s vehicle parked along a roadway at a public hunting property in the town of Lexington. Officers followed the vehicle back to a nearby hunting camp where they identified the driver as the same individual in the ring camera video. The Officers then found the other subject at the hunting camp.
The subjects, both residents of New Jersey, admitted to illegally shooting and killing the deer from the roadway the previous year. ECOs charged the pair with possessing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, taking a deer from a public roadway, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, illegally killing a white-tailed deer, and failing to properly tag the deer.
Officers discovered an untagged seven-point buck at the hunting camp, which also resulted in another charge for failing to tag deer as required by law.
On November 22, 2024, both subjects pleaded guilty in the Town of Lexington Court and paid fines totaling $2,500.
Onondaga County
On Noveeembr 17th, ECOs stopped a truck carrying a deer carcass and a cooler full of meat in its bed during a road check in the town of Cicero, Onondaga County, NY.
The driver told Officers he had cut up the deer for a friend and was given half the meat for his services. ECOs noticed quickly that neither the carcass nor the meat contained a tag or note from the taker as required by law and directed the driver to contact the friend to have that individual send a photo of the tag.
The friend failed to provide the information requested and did not have a hunting license. ECO Thomas ticketed the driver for transporting a deer without a note from the taker and ticketed the friend for hunting big game without a license and illegally taking a deer.
Cayuga County Songbirds
On November 18th, ECO Sincebaugh encountered a group of individuals hunting at Northern Montezuma Wildlife Management Area in the town of Montezuma in Cayuga County, NY.
The hunters claimed to be pheasant hunting but after a brief interview and quick search, the Officer located a plastic bag with four immature red winged black birds. Two of the hunters also failed to possess hunting licenses.
ECO Sincebaugh issued three tickets for unlawfully killing protected songbirds and two for hunting without a license.
Fulton/Montgomery Counties
On December 5th, ECOs Manns, Paschke, Bohling, and Bevis responded to multiple reports that a whitetail buck, well known to hunters in Fulton and Montgomery counties over the years due to its large size and recognizable set of antlers, had been taken illegally from a roadway.
Acting on several tips from the hunting community about where and when the deer was taken, the Officers investigated all locations in both counties in search of evidence. They also conducted several interviews which ultimately led to a subject in the village of Fultonville.
On December 7th, ECOs Bohling and Bevis interviewed the subject who admitted to shooting the buck at a specific location. The suspect also offered to take the Officers to where the animal was hanging.
ECO Manns received permission from a landowner to check the property given by the hunter and determined the subject was not being truthful about where he took the deer.
Once pressed further by ECOs, the subject confessed to illegally shooting and killing the deer from Old Johnstown Road in the village of Fonda while the deer was feeding in a pumpkin patch at approximately 12:30 am.
ECOs charged the individual with the illegal take of deer (misdemeanor), shooting on/from a roadway (misdemeanor), hunting outside of legal hours (violation), and Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) trespass. All tickets are returnable to Mohawk Town Court.
Greene County
On December 7th, ECO Palmateer responded to a complaint about subjects at a hunting camp illegally feeding deer in the town of Prattsville. Officer Palmateer arrived at the location and noticed drops of blood in the snow while interviewing the property owner who admitted to placing corn in the area to feed the deer and shooting a buck at the location the previous afternoon.
The property owner relayed that he then transported the deer carcass to a butcher shop in the town of Catskill. Lieutenant Glorioso headed to the butcher shop to confirm the story while ECO Palmateer interviewed the subject further.
Before long, the subject admitted to Officer Palmateer that the deer he shot over the bait the day before was his second buck of the year and that he had put his daughter’s tag on it.
In New York, hunters are permitted to take one buck during the big game regular rifle season. Lieutenant Glorioso observed both bucks at the butcher shop and seized the second one as evidence.
Officer Palmateer ticketed the subject for using the tags of another, taking over the limit of white-tailed deer, hunting with the aid of pre-established bait, and the illegal take of white-tailed deer.
Tickets are returnable to the Town of Prattsville Court, and the seized deer was brought to a local butcher shop that participates in a venison donation program.
Fishing in Queen/Richmond/Nassau Counties
On November 21st, ECOs Currey, Keegan, Rappold, and Veloski teamed up with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) law enforcement officers to inspect seafood wholesalers to ensure proper size, tags, and sanitary conditions of regulated seafood.
ECOs Currey and Rappold inspected a grocery store in Queens and discovered 19 untagged tautog (blackfish). Blackfish are highly regulated species and requiere a tag when caught and sold in New York for commercial purposes. ECOs ticketed the store for offering untagged tautog for sale.
On December 3rd, ECOs Farner and Clinger received a complaint about an individual taking fish illegally at Breezy Point in Queens County. The Officers approached the angler when he returned to his vehicle, but the subject was not in possession of any visible fish, just a backpack with a strong fish odor.
The ECOs searched the area and discovered a bag approximately 100 yards from the parking lot and hidden in some woods that contained six undersized striped bass. As the Officers were leaving the area, they observed the subject’s car driving back to the fishing access site.
They followed his vehicle and caught the subject searching in the woods for the bag the Officers had retrieved. ECOs ticketed the subject for possession of over-the-limit and undersized striped bass.
The six striped bass ranged from 17 and 25 inches. The allowable catch limit for striped bass in marine waters is one per day between 28 and 31 inches.
On December 5th, ECOs Farner and Clinger observed four anglers catching striped bass and quickly putting the fish into bags and coolers in Richmond County.
The Officers approached the anglers and discovered 35 undersized striped bass. ECOs issued a total of eight tickets for possession of over-the-limit and undersized striped bass, returnable to Richmond County Court.
On December 7th, ECO DeRose observed a vessel with five people on board not wearing personal flotation devices in Nassau County. ECOs stopped the vessel and discovered the individuals standing in ankle deep water with five floating striped bass surrounding them.
Of the five fish on board, two were outside the legal limit. ECOs issued tickets to two anglers for possession of striped bass outside the legal limit and cited the captain for failure to wear life jackets between Nov. 1 and May 1.
Officers also gave the group a verbal warning for failing to possess proper safety equipment. Tickets are returnable to Nassau First District Court.
To contact an ECO to report an environmental crime or to report an incident, call 1-844-DEC-ECOS for 24-hour dispatch or email for non-urgent violations.
Photo: Illegal deer poaching captured on doorbell camera in Greene County, November 2023.
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