Most any hunter would like the opportunity at growing bigger bucks on the property they hunt. Generally, hunters work hard in the off-season to make that happen through proper management plans – or they simply hope and pray for the best.
But it appears there are some that think smuggling deer into the wild would be a good idea to achieve their goals. That’s the latest story we’re hearing out of the great state of Texas.
According to a release by the Texas Parks and Wildlife, a South Texas deer breeder and his business partner were caught attempting to smuggle seven deer from a licensed deer breeding facility in East Texas through Montgomery County to Brazoria and Duval counties, where they intended to illegally release the deer into the wild on private property.
The case unfolded when a Montgomery County Game Warden conducted a traffic stop and discovered the illegally possessed deer being transported without required documentation or identification.
Further investigation uncovered significant violations of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) statutes and regulations, as well as criminal and traffic violations. Both individuals were arrested and booked into Montgomery County Jail.
The deer breeder faced 41 total charges: one traffic code violation, 11 penal code violations and 29 deer breeder violations under the Texas Administrative Code and Parks and Wildlife Code.
He pleaded guilty to three penal code violations and 29 deer breeder violations. His business partner was charged with two penal code violations and 28 deer breeder violations, of which he was convicted.
Combined, they were convicted of a total of 57 deer breeder violations, one alcohol and two dangerous drug violations. They received a total $12,060 in fines.
Breeder deer that have not been properly identified or have had their identification hidden or illegally changed or removed are commonly referred to as “ghost deer.”
“Flagrant violations, such as intentionally transferring deer without identifiers, hinder Texas’ ability to identify the source of a deer in the event of a disease detection,” said Col. Ronald VanderRoest, TPWD Law Enforcement Director.
“This creates the potential for negative impacts to the health of both captive and free ranging deer populations, the deer breeder industry, landowners, hunters and Texas’ outdoor and rural based economies, where white-tailed deer hunting has a $9.6 billion annual economic contribution.”
With no available site for return, their unknown disease status and the unacceptable risks associated with their release into the wild, the “ghost deer” in this case were euthanized in accordance with protocols related to disease testing.
The type of activity the suspects were participating in led TPWD to believe a heightened risk of disease exposure existed.
Fortunately, the epidemiological investigation revealed no detection of CWD.
