Between six to eight teenagers could be facing charges for killing approximately 40 deer and a horse in Clark County, Wisconsin.

Lt. Robin Barnhardt, a conservation warden team supervisor in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, says the conservation wardens’ investigation began weeks ago, after reports came in from locals who were finding dead deer that had been shot and left in fields.

“During the course of that investigation the wardens contacted students at several high schools and several communities in Clark County,” Barnhardt said. “[They] made the determination that several groups of juveniles had been involved in these activities at night for several weeks. These juveniles were going out, spotlighting deer, shooting them with firearms and just leaving them to rot in the field.”

Barnhardt says the teenagers broke at least two Wisconsin statutes: hunting of deer with the aid of artificial light and hunting outside of the designated gun deer season, both Class A misdemeanors.

“These types of incidents are not common, but they’re not uncommon. They happen in a variety of locations around the state in the fall and game wardens use the term ‘thrill kill’ for these types of incidents,” Barnhardt said. “Typically they involve groups of young males, usually folks in their late teens, general of legal driving age, or early 20s.”

Wardens are currently compiling all the case reports, and once the case is closed, they will meet with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office to “reach an appropriate and fair level of enforcement.”

Prosecution could take months.

Barnhardt stresses that this is illegal and unethical hunting, and that those who partake in these activities don’t understand the dangers of shooting a moving target at night.

“Legal and ethical hunters absolutely, positively divorce themselves from this activity. This is not hunting, this is … this is wanton and random killing,” he concluded.