BearHunter
03-26-2004, 10:51 AM
CHRIS NISKANEN: Tipsters help solve deer poaching case
Outdoors Editor
The poaching case started with a headless deer carcass lying in a cornfield in Fillmore County.
It ended with a Mabel, Minn., man getting a hefty fine, jail time and losing his hunting privileges for three years.
The case of the Boone & Crockett-class deer poached last year in southeastern Minnesota highlights the importance of citizen involvement in solving poaching cases and the sort of "CSI" police work that is employed by conservation officers. Details of the case were released Tuesday by the Department of Natural Resources.
The case started with a tipster calling the DNR in mid-December. The caller wanted to report the carcass of a large whitetail lying in a field. The carcass caught someone's attention because there were bald eagles feeding on it. There was no head on the deer, either, which suggested it had been killed for its head only.
Officer Dan Book took the tip just as more information began filtering in about the deer. Apparently another hunter knew about the huge buck because he had watched it during the deer season. The hunter also phoned Book to let him know more details of the deer, "that he had seen the deer but had not been able to take it during the season,'' Book said.
Meanwhile, a third caller picked up the phone to report to Book about a man who was bragging about killing a large deer. The tipster suspected the man had poached it and that the head might match the carcass that was lying in the field.
Book and fellow officer Tom Hemker went to the field, examined the deer and removed part of it for future forensic evidence, hoping it might match a head with antlers. In some past DNR cases, DNA evidence has linked blood at the crime scene with meat in a suspect's freezer.
Then the two officers drove to Mabel, Minn., to locate the suspect and his vehicle. They found the vehicle and noticed inside two cased firearms and some spent shell casings that belonged to a high-powered rifle.
According to the DNR, Book approached the suspect and questioned him about a deer; the man admitted to killing a large deer and registering it, but a quick check revealed no such deer had been registered in the DNR's electronic licensing system. The man then said the deer had been registered by another member of his hunting party, and that the antlers and hide were at a residence in the nearby town of Newberg.
At this point, Book's suspicions were aroused. No one was found at the Newberg residence in question, so Book asked more questions.
"Upon questioning on where the animal's cape was, (the suspect) became noticeably upset and began to act in a nervous manner," Book said. "I told him that I believed he wasn't being truthful about the origin of the deer. (The suspect) then admitted he shot the deer, cut off the head and left the rest to rot,'' Book said.
The suspect took the officers to a home in Newberg, where the antlers were produced. The suspect admitted to shooting the deer with a high-powered rifle, which is illegal in southeast Minnesota, where shotguns with slugs are required for deer hunting for safety reasons.
The antlers measured 152 7/8 inches on the Boone & Crockett trophy scale, which meant the poacher was in additional trouble. A law passed in the 1990s gives stiffer penalties for trophy deer that are killed illegally. Any poached antlers that exceed 135 inches on the Boone & Crockett trophy scale automatically trigger a $1,000 fine.
The case was solved.
A Fillmore County judge recently sentenced Matt Tostenson, 38, to 90 days in jail, with 75 days suspended. To avoid the full jail sentence, Tostenson must stay clean. He must serve 15 days in jail and will lose his big-game hunting privileges for three years. All hunting privileges for one year are suspended. The final fines and restitution: $1,810.
A new law that extends hunting revocations to other states also kicks in. Tostenson's hunting privileges are further revoked in 17 other states under a pact recently signed by the states involved.
The trophy deer head will be mounted and displayed on the DNR's traveling "Wall of Shame" display that highlights severe poaching cases in the state.
Officers say the case might not have been solved without tipsters calling the DNR's Turn In Poachers Hotline at 800-652-9093. Citizens can call the hotline and report tips anonymously. Rewards also are available.
Outdoors Editor
The poaching case started with a headless deer carcass lying in a cornfield in Fillmore County.
It ended with a Mabel, Minn., man getting a hefty fine, jail time and losing his hunting privileges for three years.
The case of the Boone & Crockett-class deer poached last year in southeastern Minnesota highlights the importance of citizen involvement in solving poaching cases and the sort of "CSI" police work that is employed by conservation officers. Details of the case were released Tuesday by the Department of Natural Resources.
The case started with a tipster calling the DNR in mid-December. The caller wanted to report the carcass of a large whitetail lying in a field. The carcass caught someone's attention because there were bald eagles feeding on it. There was no head on the deer, either, which suggested it had been killed for its head only.
Officer Dan Book took the tip just as more information began filtering in about the deer. Apparently another hunter knew about the huge buck because he had watched it during the deer season. The hunter also phoned Book to let him know more details of the deer, "that he had seen the deer but had not been able to take it during the season,'' Book said.
Meanwhile, a third caller picked up the phone to report to Book about a man who was bragging about killing a large deer. The tipster suspected the man had poached it and that the head might match the carcass that was lying in the field.
Book and fellow officer Tom Hemker went to the field, examined the deer and removed part of it for future forensic evidence, hoping it might match a head with antlers. In some past DNR cases, DNA evidence has linked blood at the crime scene with meat in a suspect's freezer.
Then the two officers drove to Mabel, Minn., to locate the suspect and his vehicle. They found the vehicle and noticed inside two cased firearms and some spent shell casings that belonged to a high-powered rifle.
According to the DNR, Book approached the suspect and questioned him about a deer; the man admitted to killing a large deer and registering it, but a quick check revealed no such deer had been registered in the DNR's electronic licensing system. The man then said the deer had been registered by another member of his hunting party, and that the antlers and hide were at a residence in the nearby town of Newberg.
At this point, Book's suspicions were aroused. No one was found at the Newberg residence in question, so Book asked more questions.
"Upon questioning on where the animal's cape was, (the suspect) became noticeably upset and began to act in a nervous manner," Book said. "I told him that I believed he wasn't being truthful about the origin of the deer. (The suspect) then admitted he shot the deer, cut off the head and left the rest to rot,'' Book said.
The suspect took the officers to a home in Newberg, where the antlers were produced. The suspect admitted to shooting the deer with a high-powered rifle, which is illegal in southeast Minnesota, where shotguns with slugs are required for deer hunting for safety reasons.
The antlers measured 152 7/8 inches on the Boone & Crockett trophy scale, which meant the poacher was in additional trouble. A law passed in the 1990s gives stiffer penalties for trophy deer that are killed illegally. Any poached antlers that exceed 135 inches on the Boone & Crockett trophy scale automatically trigger a $1,000 fine.
The case was solved.
A Fillmore County judge recently sentenced Matt Tostenson, 38, to 90 days in jail, with 75 days suspended. To avoid the full jail sentence, Tostenson must stay clean. He must serve 15 days in jail and will lose his big-game hunting privileges for three years. All hunting privileges for one year are suspended. The final fines and restitution: $1,810.
A new law that extends hunting revocations to other states also kicks in. Tostenson's hunting privileges are further revoked in 17 other states under a pact recently signed by the states involved.
The trophy deer head will be mounted and displayed on the DNR's traveling "Wall of Shame" display that highlights severe poaching cases in the state.
Officers say the case might not have been solved without tipsters calling the DNR's Turn In Poachers Hotline at 800-652-9093. Citizens can call the hotline and report tips anonymously. Rewards also are available.