100 Deer Poached, 4 Suspects Involved

Authorities in Wisconsin have concluded their investigation on a despicable poaching case that involved more than 100 deer killed. It was determined the poaching took place from spring 2023 to July 2024.

Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt said the investigation started when a resident called the department.

“In mid-July we got a call basically of a strong stench or strong odor coming from garbage at the neighbor’s house,” Waldschmidt said. “When the deputy went to investigate, he found in the garbage multiple heads of bucks in velvet in the garbage rotting. That is what was causing the smell.”

Waldschmidt contacted the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the two agencies collaborated in the investigation.

After hundreds of combined hours of investigation, a 36-year-old female from Campbellsport, Wis. and three 16-year-old males from Campbellsport were identified as the primary suspects.

Waldschmidt said the suspects drove around a 200 square mile region at night spotlighting fields. If a deer was spotted, they fired a rifle from their vehicle at the deer. If the deer was hit the suspects went into the field to identify it. Most of the dead deer were left to rot where they laid. If the deer was a buck with sizable antlers, the head was removed and the body left to rot.

A number of deer were wounded but not found by the perpetrators.

This buck found by Dan Schmidt in 2020 on a well-used deer trail was clearly poached — there’s a bullet hole in his shoulder and sawed-off antlers. Read that story here.

Investigators also determined the suspects drove around with the intent of striking deer in the roadway with their vehicle. In one incident, the deer struck was severely injured but not killed. The juvenile suspects stuffed the injured deer in the trunk of the vehicle while recording a video of the event.        

The suspects drove around for hours with the injured deer while recording more videos. One video showed the suspects holding the deer in their home while the deer suffered. The deer eventually died in their captivity.

The investigation found that in spring 2024, the suspects located a newly born fawn. The fawn was placed in their vehicle and driven around before taking the fawn into their residence. It was later released into the wild.

In addition to deer, the suspects also targeted geese, raccoons, opossums and turtles. Those animals were often captured, held in captivity and harassed prior to being released.

The suspects face multiple criminal and resource violations including:

  • Mistreating animals resulting in death
  • Possession of a dangerous weapon
  • Hunting deer with artificial light
  • Hunting during the closed season
  • Possession of a firearm while shining
  • Possession of deer during the closed season
  • Loading or discharging a firearm in or from a motorized vehicle
  • Discharging a firearm from or across a highway or within 50 feet of the center of a roadway
  • Hunting within 50 feet of a road’s center
  • Transporting a loaded firearm in or on a moving vehicle
  • Possession of game killed by unlawful or unknown means
  • Hunting with weapon/ammunition of inherent design, or used in a manner, not reasonably capable of reducing target to possession (i.e. shooting an animal without the expectation of successfully harvesting the animal)
  • Unauthorized taking of live wild animals from the wild
  • Depositing or discharging solid waste on public or private property
  • Obstructing a Conservation Warden

Sherriff Waldschmidt is a deer hunter. Solving this case was important to him on a personal and professional level. He called the acts of the suspects senseless, reckless and indiscriminate.

“Wildlife and hunting are a deep part of Wisconsin’s heritage and history,” he said. “The horrific acts committed against these animals will shock the conscience of hunters and non-hunters alike. We’re thankful for the observant citizen who took the time to report their observation of suspicious circumstances to our sheriff’s office.”

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