Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division Law Enforcement Section Field Operations Weekly Report December 23-29, 2007 This report is a broad sampling of events that have taken place in the past week, but does not include all actions taken by the Law Enforcement Section. Region II- Gainesville (Northeast) FORSYTH/DAWSON COUNTY On Christmas Day, Ranger Pamela Garrison received a call from the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office in reference to a subject that had four set of antlers and a nine point buck in the back of his truck at a resident in South Forsyth County. When Ranger Garrison arrived at the resident she was advised that the vehicle in question had left and went to his resident in Hall County. The homeowner in South Forsyth County had a ten point buck in the back of his truck. When questioned about it he stated that he killed it on Christmas Eve evening in Dawson County. In the back of his truck were three bags of corn and two-three gallons of liquid deer cocaine. Sgt. Lee Brown responded to the resident in South Forsyth County to investigate the kill of the ten point buck. Sgt. Brown went to the site in Dawson County and couldn't find any evidence that the deer had been killed there. Ranger Garrison interviewed the subject that had the four sets of antlers and a nine point buck at his resident in Hall County. It was determined by her that he had killed over the limit of antlered bucks. Corporal Jason Roberson went to the site in Dawson County later in the week to further check on the kill of the ten point buck and caught a subject skinning two doe deer. This subject was found to be hunting deer over bait. Corporal Roberson and Ranger Garrison went to the subject's home on December 30th in Hall County and through their investigation charged him with two counts of taking over the limit bag limit of antlered bucks and two counts of possession of illegally taken wildlife. An eleven point and nine point buck was confiscated. Region III- Thomson (East Central) ELBERT COUNTY On Saturday December 29, 2007 Cpl. Julian Wilkins was working a complaint of night hunting on Bell's Ferry Rd. At 2055 hrs a truck approached his location and the occupants were observed spotlighting a field. Cpl. Wilkins notified Cpl. Greg Colson, who was working in the same area, who then stopped the vehicle. The spotlight and a loaded .22 caliber rifle were located in the truck. The male driver and female passenger were transported to the Elbert County jail where they were both charged with Hunting Deer at Night, Hunting From a Vehicle, and Hunting Big Game From a Public Road. A case for Possession of a Firearm By a Convicted Felon is also pending against the driver. Region IV- Macon (West Central) HENRY COUNTY On December 27, 2007 Sgt. Russ Ramsey, Cpl. Wanda Roberts, RFC Travis Sweat, and RFC Kevin Godbee investigated a hunting accident in Henry County. The accident involved a subject falling from a tree stand. Their investigation found that subject got dizzy and fell 10'2" from a "Baker" climbing stand fracturing his collarbone and neck. On December 30, 2007 RFC Kevin Godbee located a stolen vehicle on the South River in Henry County while checking for early morning duck hunting activity. MERIWETHER COUNTY On December 24, 2007 Cpl. Keith Waddell was checking for duck hunting in North East Meriwether County when he located two subjects hunting ducks. One subject was charged with hunting ducks without a Georgia waterfowl stamp, hunting without federal waterfowl stamp, and given a warning for hunting with an unplugged gun, and hunting without a license. The other subject was warned for hunting without Georgia Waterfowl Stamp. Region V- Albany (Southwest) GRADY COUNTY On Wednesday December 26, Sgt. Rick Sellars was checking an area in north Grady County where he had a complaint of shooting ducks after legal hours. While staking out the area, he heard shots being fired well after the legal hunting hours for migratory birds and waterfowl. The two subjects were located and charged with hunting ducks after legal hours and hunting without federal duck stamps. Both were issued written warnings for hunting without Georgia waterfowl license and hunting with illegal ammunition. On Friday December 28, RFC Mike Binion responded to hunting without permission complaint in Grady County. He made contact with a female subject hunting squirrels. Her two male accomplices fled on foot, but later returned. All three subjects were charged with hunting without a non-resident license. The two males were also charged with failure to allow inspection. All were issued written warnings for hunting without permission. MILLER COUNTY On December 27, Cpl Terri Jones responded to a night hunting complaint on Henry Miller Rd. in Miller County. Two subjects, one adult and one juvenile, were apprehended while shining a spotlight across a field. After investigating the complaint, Cpl. Jones issued the adult citations for hunting at night and hunting from a vehicle. No charges were filed against the fifteen-year-old juvenile participant. RANDOLPH COUNTY On the afternoon of December 29, 2007, Cpl. B.J. Foster and Ranger Jack Stripling investigated a citizen complaint of hunting deer over bait. Nine citations were issued; five for hunting big game over bait, two for non-resident hunting without a license, and two for non-resident hunting without a big game license. SCHLEY COUNTY On December 30, 2007 Sgt. Wade Law responded to an in-progress night deer hunting complaint in Schley County. The complainant followed the vehicle to a Marion County deer camp and provided the information to local authorities. With assistance from the Marion County Sheriff and the Georgia State Patrol, Sgt. Law was able to investigate the incident and charge two subjects with Hunting deer at night, Hunting from a public road, and Hunting from a motor vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was also charged with driving under the influence. Region VII- Brunswick (Coastal) WAYNE COUNTY On December 27, RFC Randy Aspinwall was listening for duck hunting activity in the Odum Area when he heard about 10 shots after legal shooting hours for waterfowl. He proceeded to the area and located a small pick-up truck. He waited in the area until a subject came walking down the railroad tracks with a duck in his hands. The subject admitted to hunting after hours and did not have a license of any type. Citations were written for hunting without a federal duck stamp, hunting without a Georgia duck stamp, hunting after hours, and a warning for hunting without a license. On December 27, RFC Randy Aspinwall received a report about night hunting in the area of Empire Road. He immediately responded to the area and was able to locate a truck at a residence fitting the description of the suspect vehicle. There was blood in the back of the truck. After interviewing the two individuals, charges were taken on both for hunting deer at night and hunting from a vehicle. A doe deer was confiscated. On December 28, RFC Randy Aspinwall was pulling into the Post Office in Jesup when he saw a male about 30 years of age on the ground on top of an elderly gentleman choking him. Randy immediately exited his patrol truck as the elderly gentleman was asking for help. He was forced to physically remove the suspect from the elderly man and then wrestled the suspect to the ground placing him under arrest for disorderly conduct and obstruction of an officer. LONG COUNTY On December 28, around 2240 hours while working a night hunting complaint in Long County, Cpl. Bobby White stopped a vehicle for shining a spotlight and issued two warnings for blinding wildlife and at 2310 he stopped another vehicle for shining a spotlight and issued one citation for hunting deer at night, one citation for hunting from a public road, and one citation for hunting from a vehicle. BRANTLEY COUNTY On December 28, RFC Randy Aspinwall responded to a dog hunting complaint in Brantley County in the area of Mineral Springs Road. Individuals were reportedly running dogs in a non-permitted area. He was able to locate 5 individuals. All five were given citations for hunting without fluorescent orange and two of the individuals were given warnings for allowing dogs off of permitted property. GLYNN COUNTY On December 28, 2007, Sgt. Bob Lynn, Sgt. Doug Lewis, and Sgt. Gordon Campbell responded to hunting without permission complaint. When the officers arrived the landowner had the violator with him. The violator had entered the property by driving around a locked gate. The violator was attempting to catch his deer dogs that had entered the property while in pursuit of a deer. The violator was issued a warning for failure to keep deer dogs on permitted property. CAMDEN COUNTY On December 24, 2007. Cpl. Chris Hodge was conducting dockside inspections at the Meeting Street boat ramp in St. Marys, GA. While inspecting the creel of two subjects, Cpl. Hodge located five undersize striped bass. The subjects were issued citations for possession of undersize striped bass and over the daily creel limit of striped bass. On December 29, 2007, RFC Craig Smith was on routine patrol in Camden County. RFC Smith observed a vehicle that had backed up to the St. Marys River under the I-95 Bridge. As he pulled down to the vehicle he observed a subject coming from the river with a green trashcan in his hand. RFC Smith investigated and found the subject had just dumped a deer carcass in the river. The subject removed the carcass from the river and was issued a citation for unlawful dumping. BRYAN COUNTY On December 29th, Cpl. Cindy Miller was patrolling the Richmond Hill WMA when she noticed a truck parked at the gate. The truck belonged to individuals she had issued citations to last year for hunting without permission. Cpl. Miller followed the footprints into the marsh and located the individuals. They were on state land but were not wearing fluorescent orange vests in the stand but had the vests with them. They were issued warnings for hog hunting without fluorescent orange vests. On December 29th, Cpl. Cindy Miller was patrolling an area in South Bryan and came across an individual who was hunting deer with dogs on un-permitted property and citied the individual for such. The same individual was issued a warning earlier this year by Cpl. Morgan and a citation last year from Cpl. Miller for failure to keep dogs on permitted property. LIBERTY COUNTY On December 24, 2007, Ranger Isaac Strickland and Ranger Randy Tinley were patrolling the Screven Fork Road area, when they observed several deer hunters lined up along the tree line next to the roadway. They also found deer hunters standing near Dave Williams Road and Bill Carter Road, along with several trucks with dog boxes. After contacting Cpl. Jay Morgan, they determined that the hunters were hunting deer with dogs on property that was not part of the hunting club's deer-dogging permit. The Rangers proceeded to collect the hunting licenses and identifications of the hunters, while Cpl. Morgan proceeded to the area. Upon arriving, Cpl. Morgan also found three hunters on the un-permitted property. A total of ten (10) hunters were charged with "Hunting deer with dogs on un-permitted property" and five (5) hunters were also issued warnings for "Operating a motor vehicle without permit number displayed". Several other hunters had left the area before the Rangers could apprehend them. On December 28, 2007, Cpl. Cindy Miller received a complaint about persons hunting deer with dogs on un-permitted property in the J. Don Road area. She passed the information onto Cpl. Jay Morgan and Ranger Randy Tinley, who then proceeded to the area. Upon arriving, Cpl. Morgan found several hunters leaving the area in trucks with dog boxes. The hunters claimed that they had been "still-hunting". Upon checking the area, the Rangers heard a dog barking as if it were trailing a deer. The Rangers located the dog and obtained the owner's name off the dog collar. The owner was one of the hunters that they had just previously checked. Since the hunters had already left the area and could not be found, the dog owner was contacted the next day and issued a warning for "Hunting deer with dogs on un-permitted property". On December 28, 2007, Corporals Cindy Miller and Jay Morgan, and Ranger Randy Tinley were checking fishermen at McQueen's Inlet at St. Catherine's Island. While checking a boat with two fishermen, they found that one fisherman had a fishing license that had been expired for over two months and he was in possession of six (6) red drum. A citation was issued for "Possession of over the limit of saltwater finfish" and a written warning was issued for "Fishing without a license".