ORIGINAL: livbucks
A pile of deer bones means nothing andI would bet that no case of any kind could be made from it. The guy could maybe like to butcher his own deer or maybe he processes deer for friends and relatives. It is not uncommon for a group of hunting buddies to congregate at one guy's house and butcher their deer together for the camraderie of it. Does he have to prove his innocence or is the burden of proof on the GC? Maybe the scales of justice work backward at the GC. The bones only prove one thing....the deer died.
I totally agree that deer bones don’t indicate a violation and I don’t completely expect there is a violation involved with this report.
But, what I do know is that this is also an area where I have had reports of shots being fired late at night by someone that doesn’t use the roads before or after the shots. In fact I just had reports of two shots in the area last Sunday night at about 10 minutes before midnight. There is an indication they use an ATV though and that indicates someone pretty local.
Right now what I have is a citizen complaint about alleged illegal deer killing and I do generally investigate those allegations, at least within the limits of a legal walk through the woods. If deer bones start showing up before the season then we certainly do have something that needs to be further explored.
Would you prefer that we not check out such reports?
Dick Bodenhorn
WCO, Elk County