Three hunters from Cortland County recently pleaded guilty and received penalties for illegally taking a massive trophy buck in Tioga County.
On the night of Nov. 7, Dakota Holcomb, Nick Holcomb, and Andrew Allen drove through fields in the town of Richford, sweeping the area with a spotlight. The driver, Dakota Holcomb, shot an 11-point buck from the vehicle as the buck stood motionless in the spotlight’s glare.
A nearby resident saw the spotlight, heard the shot, and called a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police officer who responded from Tompkins County. But by time the ECO arrived at the scene, the poachers had already fled.
The next day, the ECO and the landowner went back to the field where the buck was shot and found it still alive but not moving. The ECO determined the buck had been shot with a medium-caliber rifle before he euthanized it.
The landowner spread word on social media, and feedback led ECOs to interview the three hunters, who admitted to shooting the big buck.
Dakota Holcomb received five tickets for the illegal take of deer, taking deer from a motor vehicle, taking deer from a public highway, hunting deer with an artificial light, and possessing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle.
Passengers Nick Holcomb and Andrew Allen each received four tickets. Under NYS environmental conservation law, accessories are just as guilty as principals.
All three defendants pleaded guilty in the Town of Richford Court. Dakota Holcomb was fined $3,000; Nick Holcomb and Allen were each fined $2,000. Additionally, the rifle used in the crime was surrendered.
As for the trophy buck, it had an antler score, or measurement, of approximately 163 inches. However, the score is unofficial because the deer was taken unlawfully.
The following reports are excerpted from DEC
ECO Seabury poses with antlers confiscated from a Jefferson County poacher who shot seven deer during regular deer season, including a 10-pointer.NYS DEC
Way over the limit
On Dec. 5, DEC police got a tip that a hunter had shot more than the legal limit of bucks in Wilna, Jefferson County, including a 10-pointer sought by many hunters in the area. An ECO discovered the accused poacher had dropped off three bucks and three does at a local deer processing station. The 10-pointer was dropped off at a different processor. ECOs interviewed the poacher at his residence in Natural Bridge. He admitted to taking two three-point bucks, a seven-point buck, the popular 10-point buck, and three does. Hunters are allowed only one antlered deer during the regular season. He received 11 tickets, including six misdemeanor charges for the illegal take of big game, taking over the limit of deer, and several deer tagging-related offenses. ECOs confiscated the antlers of the four bucks as evidence. Charges are pending in the Town of Wilna Court.
Stuck with the evidence
On November 20, a hunter got stuck on the side of a road in Conesville after shooting a 10-point buck from his vehicle. ECOs interviewed the hunter, who claimed he was hunting nearby and had left the woods at around 4:30 p.m. when he spotted a buck in fields off Wood Drive. The hunter claimed he then pulled off the road, got out, loaded his rifle, and shot the 10-pointer. ECOs ticketed the hunter for discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and the illegal take of a protected animal. They also confiscated the deer as evidence. Charges are pending in Conesville Town Court.
Drive by shooter
An ECO patrolling Basswood Pond State Forest on Nov. 30 noticed blood and drag marks from a wood line to the road and a fresh gut pile approximately 30 yards into the woods. While canvassing the area he saw a pickup truck driving slowly down the road. Joined by another ECO, the officers approached the vehicle on foot and saw the driver fumbling with a rifle on his lap while unloading it. They told the driver and other occupants of the truck to get out while securing the rifle. There was blood and gloves in the truck bed. The driver initially claimed he shot a deer in a different CNY county the previous day, but then admitted to illegally taking a deer near Basswood Pond State Forest and led the ECOs to the deer carcass at his hunting camp approximately five miles away. The poacher received tickets for possessing a loaded gun in a motor vehicle, illegal take of protected wildlife, and improper tagging of deer. ECOs confiscated the deer as evidence. Charges are pending in the Town of Brookfield Court.
Serial poacher
A hunter called DEC police on Dec. 9 after he found a large, dead buck on property he hunts in the town of Arcade. The hunter suspected the deer had been shot by someone without a hunting license. An ECO checked into the claim and found it to be true. Furthermore, the accused hunter previously had had his license revoked for a deer poaching conviction six years earlier. The hunter denied any involvement in the incident, but when an ECO pulled out a photo of him posing with the buck in question, the hunter admitted to poaching the deer. He was ticketed for the illegal take of big game and hunting deer without a license. Charges are pending in Arcade Town Court.