Oregon Officials Seeking Deer Poacher, Suspect Faces BIG Fine-Maybe Jail

In the world of hunting, there's do's and don'ts.  This is definitely a don't.

Oregon State Department of Wildlife officials are seeking information on a suspected poaching of a mature mule deer buck that likely occurred on or around October 27-28 near LaGrande.

An elk hunter notified Oregon State Police on Saturday the 28th that he had found the deer carcass in the Dark Spring area off I-84 near LaGrande. The remains were found off what's called the 21 Road, off the 410 and 500 spur roads. It's in the Starkey Wildlife Management Unit in Union County.

Officials say the poacher only took the skullcap and antlers off the animal, leaving the rest to rot. Even with a proper permit,  hunters are required to bring out the entire animal, you can't just take the horns and leave the rest to scavengers.

Oregon officials say anyone with any information can call (541)-805-4757 or the Oregon Poaching Tip hotline at 800-452-7888. You might not know, but especially with deer, elk, moose and certain other animals, poaching penalties can be in the upper four figures and possibly jail time-depending upon how many animals were illegally taken.