WOW, Every year a story like this seems to surface. Like the others this one also sounds a bit stretched. Monitoring phone calls of the entire neighborhood for 1 deer? I could understand if it was a poaching ring.... but just 1 deer? And the entire neighborhood? You said they already knew who the friend was so why did they hassle your buddy? I mean they were monitoring phones right?
BTW, obstruction isnt immediately a felony. It depends on the curcumstances and can be a misdemeanor charge.
If this story is true, the DNR and the Sherriff were using their muscle by threatening tickets cause when do you need to keep tags of deer you shot in your freezer with the meat? Or keep the tags period after you process the meat and its in your freezer? Why is it illegal to have processed venison in your freezer that is over a year old? Last I heard you just needed the tag when you were transporting the deer. This all sounds a bit far fetched but just might be true. What happens when you belong to a hunt club and at the end of the day the club shares the meat. Your driving home and get pulled over by the DNR (they have that right) they search your vehicle (they have that right too) and find the venison in your cooler. They ask you for your tag... hmm... you didnt shoot it so you dont have a tag. What now?
Tom, in Virginia the DGIF (DNR) publish thier CPO's logs for public viewing. Yours should also...Michigan should too.. But please post this incident so we can all see...