Deer killers fined

[Buck 120 32]

copied from Chroniclejournal.com

Deer killers fined

By BRYAN MEADOWS

Monday, January 19, 2009

A lengthy cross-border investigation involving white-tailed deer DNA and other forensic tools has resulted in the conviction of two U.S. men on 22 counts of illegal hunting in the Nestor Falls area.

Morris Silvers, 48, and Ben Morrow, 48, both of Burnsville, N.C., were fined more than $25,000 for illegal deer hunting in the fall of 2006 and 2007, the Ministry of Natural Resources reported.

In addition to a $15,500 fine, Silvers was sentenced to 65 days in jail and received a lifetime hunting suspension in Ontario.

Morrow was fined $10,000 and received a four-year hunting ban.

Their rifles, deer racks and related hunting equipment were forfeited to the Crown.

Court heard that in the fall of 2006 and 2007, Silvers and Morrow were hunting deer without a guide in Wildlife Management Unit 7B, in an area where a guide is required for a non-resident to hunt deer.

In 2006, Silvers shot four deer and Morrow shot two, even though they were only allowed to shoot one each. The men abandoned most of the meat but kept the antlers and capes, court was told.

Keeping one deer each, they were turned back from the U.S. border crossing at International Falls, Minn., because they did not have the necessary deer export permits. Each man subsequently provided false information to obtain the permits, then crossed the border successfully with the deer and five sets of deer antlers, court was told.

In 2007, Silvers and Morrow returned to the Nestor Falls area to hunt deer and stayed at the same cabin.

On Oct. 11, 2007, Kenora District conservation officers checked the men at their cabin.

Investigation showed that the men had shot three deer by this time, including a large buck that was shot by Morrow. The men removed the cape and antlers from Morrow‘s buck, hid it in the cabin attic, took one roast from the dead animal and abandoned the rest to spoil.

Very little meat, if any, was taken off the other bucks killed by Silvers, court heard.

The deer were not tagged with the game seals provided with the hunters‘ licences.

Initially, Morrow denied that he had either shot or possessed a deer, but eventually admitted his guilt and produced the cape and antlers from the attic.

A Ministry of Natural Resources canine unit from Dryden assisted officers in locating abandoned deer in the area and additional evidence around the cabin.

Also, DNA from Morrow‘s and Silvers‘ equipment provided evidence matching antlers in the vicinity of the cabin and of another deer that had been shot, abandoned and left to rot.

During the investigation, photos showing incriminating evidence were also seized. These included pictures of the five racks that were taken from deer killed in 2006, displayed on the hood of a truck parked in front of Morrow‘s house.

Officers were also able to match the deer racks in the photos taken in North Carolina to the photos of the deer with racks taken in the Gohere Bay Road area near Nestor Falls.

Assistance from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent in North Carolina resulted in Morrow turning over a mounted deer skull and a deer head mount with rack, the ministry said.