Copyright 2002 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 10, 2002 Saturday Five Star Lift Edition
SECTION: SPORTS ; Pg. 23
LENGTH: 634 words
HEADLINE: "DEER DOGGERS" GET HIT WITH SUSPENSIONS
BYLINE: Tim Renken Of The Post-Dispatch
BODY:
At first glance it may have appeared that the Missouri Conservation Commission at its July meeting suspended the hunting and fishing privileges of half the men in Reynolds County.
Such suspensions usually are rare, maybe one or two a month. Or none. Only serious, persistent violators get suspensions, in which they can not legally hunt, fish or trap for a year or two or, rarely, more. In July, though, 42 people got suspensions, all but three for the same violation, hunting deer with dogs, "deer dogging." Almost all of these men are from a relatively small area of the eastern Ozarks. They live in the small towns of Ellington, Black, Boss, Centerville, Bunker, Lesterville, etc. The list does contain some prominent citizens, including Reynolds County sheriff Gary Barton.
All of these men were caught in a special operation by the Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1998 and 1999. In this operation an agent lived under cover, pretending to be one of those who liked to hunt deer with hounds.
During the deer season, deer doggers turn their dogs loose in the woods, then follow the pack in vehicles so that they can be at favored deer crossing spots to shoot the deer as they run by. It's a social sport, with hunters usually coordinating things by CB radio.
Deer dogging is illegal in most states because it is hard on the deer and despised by most other hunters and many landowners.
It is still legal over much of Arkansas, where political opposition has prevented the Game and Fish Commission from banning it. Dogging hasn't been legal in Missouri since the 1920s, when deer restoration began. Biologists say that it's not a coincidence that the part of the Ozarks where dogging persists has never had a deer population nearly as large as the habitat will support.
Dogging does persist, though, in the hills of Reynolds and Iron counties because a significant number of residents there tolerate and even practice it.
"Some of these people are chronic violators, but some are good people who firmly believe they have a God-given right to take game in the traditional ways," said Dennis Steward, protection chief of the Department of Conservation. "But it is controversial even there. We get complaints almost on a daily basis during the deer season, and at other times, from residents who object to this on their property and who see it going on so flagrantly.
"By its very nature, it is a difficult violation to prove. Lots of the people who do it don't even own the dogs. Undercover operations are an extreme measure, dangerous and costly. And they are especially tricky in areas where laws being violated are controversial."
Ken West, supervisor of the department's southeastern office in Cape Girardeau, said that agents already knew who many of the violators were before the undercover operation began.
"We had 70 or 80 names to begin with," he said. "In 2000 some were cited in violations witnessed by our people, some after being named by other violators. At one time this thing sort of snowballed for us, with people who were turned in turning in others."
Not all of the cases made in the operation have been settled yet. And not all of the people cited were charged. The federal prosecutor decided to file only one charge per family in some of the cases to keep from wrecking those families financially.
Most of those on the suspension list were charged in federal court in Cape Girardeau. They paid collateral fines ranging from $500-$2,500.
Barton, the sheriff, told the Post-Dispatch that he didn't pay his fine of $500, but that he "forfeited collateral to clear the case." He said he is innocent and that he and others in the area are planning to fight their suspensions in court.
"I don't even own dogs," he said.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 10, 2002 Saturday Five Star Lift Edition
SECTION: SPORTS ; Pg. 23
LENGTH: 634 words
HEADLINE: "DEER DOGGERS" GET HIT WITH SUSPENSIONS
BYLINE: Tim Renken Of The Post-Dispatch
BODY:
At first glance it may have appeared that the Missouri Conservation Commission at its July meeting suspended the hunting and fishing privileges of half the men in Reynolds County.
Such suspensions usually are rare, maybe one or two a month. Or none. Only serious, persistent violators get suspensions, in which they can not legally hunt, fish or trap for a year or two or, rarely, more. In July, though, 42 people got suspensions, all but three for the same violation, hunting deer with dogs, "deer dogging." Almost all of these men are from a relatively small area of the eastern Ozarks. They live in the small towns of Ellington, Black, Boss, Centerville, Bunker, Lesterville, etc. The list does contain some prominent citizens, including Reynolds County sheriff Gary Barton.
All of these men were caught in a special operation by the Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1998 and 1999. In this operation an agent lived under cover, pretending to be one of those who liked to hunt deer with hounds.
During the deer season, deer doggers turn their dogs loose in the woods, then follow the pack in vehicles so that they can be at favored deer crossing spots to shoot the deer as they run by. It's a social sport, with hunters usually coordinating things by CB radio.
Deer dogging is illegal in most states because it is hard on the deer and despised by most other hunters and many landowners.
It is still legal over much of Arkansas, where political opposition has prevented the Game and Fish Commission from banning it. Dogging hasn't been legal in Missouri since the 1920s, when deer restoration began. Biologists say that it's not a coincidence that the part of the Ozarks where dogging persists has never had a deer population nearly as large as the habitat will support.
Dogging does persist, though, in the hills of Reynolds and Iron counties because a significant number of residents there tolerate and even practice it.
"Some of these people are chronic violators, but some are good people who firmly believe they have a God-given right to take game in the traditional ways," said Dennis Steward, protection chief of the Department of Conservation. "But it is controversial even there. We get complaints almost on a daily basis during the deer season, and at other times, from residents who object to this on their property and who see it going on so flagrantly.
"By its very nature, it is a difficult violation to prove. Lots of the people who do it don't even own the dogs. Undercover operations are an extreme measure, dangerous and costly. And they are especially tricky in areas where laws being violated are controversial."
Ken West, supervisor of the department's southeastern office in Cape Girardeau, said that agents already knew who many of the violators were before the undercover operation began.
"We had 70 or 80 names to begin with," he said. "In 2000 some were cited in violations witnessed by our people, some after being named by other violators. At one time this thing sort of snowballed for us, with people who were turned in turning in others."
Not all of the cases made in the operation have been settled yet. And not all of the people cited were charged. The federal prosecutor decided to file only one charge per family in some of the cases to keep from wrecking those families financially.
Most of those on the suspension list were charged in federal court in Cape Girardeau. They paid collateral fines ranging from $500-$2,500.
Barton, the sheriff, told the Post-Dispatch that he didn't pay his fine of $500, but that he "forfeited collateral to clear the case." He said he is innocent and that he and others in the area are planning to fight their suspensions in court.
"I don't even own dogs," he said.