On Friday, December 20, 2002 deer season was in full swing and the running of deer dogs was open. The only bad thing for the hunters was that there were no more doe days.

Around 6:30PM I received a call from one of my informants. They informed me that there were two does killed and they are on Dorcheat, headed to a certain landing south of Dixie Inn. The informant also gave me the names of the hunters involved and that they would be in a white van. At that time me along with Lt. Richie McCarthy, Senior Agent Mike Kelley, and Agent Jared McIver go to the landing. We found a boat tied up next to the bank and it had fresh blood in it. We ran the LA #’s and sure enough it came back to one of the hunters.

We ended up at hunter #1’s residence in Doyline. When we got there I saw some buckets in the driveway. When I looked in the buckets I found the remains of two does. When #1 came out of his house he said, "the does aren’t here, they are in Cotton Valley". We then asked him about the two does that were in the buckets. He said, well I killed them the other day (which was not a doe day). I bet he was wishing he had taken the trash out earlier. Hunter #1 then received citations for Take Illegal Deer Open Season (2 counts).

We then headed to Cotton Valley, and while traveling North on Hwy 371 we passed the white van that had been hauling the deer around. We then stopped hunter #2. He said he just dropped hunter #3 off at his house, along with the two does. We then went to the residence of hunter #3 and found the two does hidden in a dilapidated shed in plain view. Hunter #3 was not home but we were able to get in touch with his mother-in-law. Approximately thirty minutes later his upset mother-in-law personally brought him to us.

At that time hunter #2 received citations for Possession of Illegally Taken Deer Open Season (2 counts). Hunter #3 received citations for Take Illegal Deer Open Season (2 counts).

I would like to thank the public for working with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries as a team. With teamwork, we can help stop poaching.