DEC Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Maxwell Nocols has reported that on November 21st he received a report of hunters trespassing, firing two shots and killing an antlerless deer on private property in the town of Schroon.

ECO Nicols said he arrived to find numerous footprints entering the woods off Letsonville Road and crossing two separate posted properties. ECO Matt Lacroix with K-9 Diesel were contacted to assist with the investigation.

The officers report that two .30-06 shell casings were located by K-9 Diesel, identifying the caliber and location the shots had come from. On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, ECO Nicols questioned a subject who had been seen at the scene of the complaint the previous day.

Nicols reported that the man confessed and was charged with trespassing on posted land, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, and the illegal take of the antlerless deer.

The case will be heard in the Town of Schroon Court, and the deer was seized and donated to the venison donation program.

Photo of ECOs Nicols, Lacroix, and K-9 Diesel with illegally taken button buck provided.