Fond du Lac County squad car. PC: Fox 11 Online
FOND DU LAC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Three teenagers, along with a 36-year old woman, all from Campbellsport — have been identified as suspects in a large deer poaching investigation.
Authorities say the incidents happened in Fond du Lac, Dodge and Washington Counties.
More than two months after the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office along with the Wisconsin DNR asked for information about suspected deer poaching, the investigation revealed a large scale scheme which spanned three counties in about a 200 mile region.
In a news release, Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt called the acts, “Senseless. Reckless. Indiscriminate.”
The Sheriff’s Office saying more than 100 deer were shot and or killed starting in the Spring of 2023 into July of this year. The animals were left for dead.
The incidents happening in Fond du Lac, Dodge and Washington Counties — stretching from Lomira and Waucousta down to Theresa and West Bend.
“Just the sheer quantity that someone could get away with it for that long is just what’s so surprising,” said Ryan Beck.
Beck owns Animal Art Taxidermy, just outside of Campbellsport. He mounts hundreds of legally obtained animals each year.
He said, “I just can’t wrap my head around how someone could do something like that, you know, it’s just wild to me.”
According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office the suspects would drive around in the dark, shining spotlights into fields. They’d shoot at deer from their vehicle. And, if they thought they’d hit the deer, they’d chase after it – cutting the antlers off of some bucks — but always leaving the carcass to rot.
Sheriff Waldschmidt said, “Wildlife and hunting are a deep part of Wisconsin’s heritage and history, and the horrific acts committed against these animals will shock the conscience of hunters and non-hunters alike.”
Ryan Beck agrees, adding, “As a hunter, you put a lot of time and effort into producing animals, that’s part of it. You put back into the wildlife as well. If you have someone like this, well, that really knocks down what you’ve been working to, putting in your time and effort and obviously money as well into these animals and somebody just takes it away from you.”
The four suspects have not been formally charged, but they are accused of a laundry list of both criminal and civil DNR offenses – including mistreatment of animals, possession of dangerous weapon, possession of game killed by unlawful or unknown means – among other offenses.
In addition to shooting deer, the suspects are believed to have purposely hit at least one deer with a vehicle — wounding it — putting it in the trunk and driving around with the animal –shooting videos and taking selfies with it before it eventually died.
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