Poached buck raises concerns in Foothills

Fish and Wildlife personnel are on the hunt for a poacher(s) responsible for taking the head of a white-tailed deer and leaving the rest southwest of Calgary last month.

Phil Marasco, Fish and Wildlife officer in High River, said his office received a report that the carcass of a white-tailed buck was spotted on an undeveloped road allowance bordering another property along 144 Street West on Dec. 7. The head had been removed, but the rest of the body remained.

“We are seeking public assistance,” said Marasco. “If someone out there knows anything we hope they will give us a call and let us know. Usually information from the public is the greatest system when tracking down who might have done it.”

Marasco said officers believe the deer had been shot using either black- powder or a shotgun at another location and taken to the one it was found at a day or two previously.

“It looks like it was harvested in the vicinity,” he said, adding there was fresh snow on the ground the day officers saw the animal.

From the size and gender of the deer, officers suspect it was hunted for its antlers, said Marasco.

He said at the estimated time the deer was killed, hunters were prohibited from hunting white-tailed deer with antlers.

The offence was also illegal due to the fact that nothing else was salvaged on the animal, said Brendan Cox, spokesperson for Fish and Wildlife Enforcement.

“Shot and left animals are something officers come across every year,” he said. “It’s not necessarily uncommon. During hunting season it is generally the busiest time of year but poachers unfortunately don’t respect hunting season so we can see this kind of thing any time of year but mostly in the fall.”

Cox said his main concern is that the animal was left to waste, which is an offense under the Wildlife Act.

“Any edible flesh of a big game animal should be used,” he said. “It was a buck so it seems likely that this person wanted a trophy for some kind. Ethical hunters know that if they’re going out to hunt an animal that they should be using as much as the animal as possible and all of the edible flesh should be taken. If you are wasting a significant portion of the animal that is definitely unlawful.”

Cox said they have very little information besides where the animal was found.

“We know that it was shot somewhere else and moved to the location where it was found,” he said. “At this point we are asking if any member of the public have more information that could help us to ring the person to justice. If someone had seen this animal dumped in the location that it was, that would be helpful.”

Anybody with information that may relate to this or any other fish or wildlife crime is asked to contact the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Branch’s High River District Office at 403-652-8324 or the 24-hour Report A Poacher line at 1-800-642-3800. Callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward.