Officials in Pennsylvania are trying to track down a poacher who shot and abandoned a white-tailed deer in Fulton County earlier this week.
The eight-point deer was found on Wednesday morning in Harrisonville, within Taylor Township, the Pennsylvania Game Commission confirmed Thursday in a Facebook post. The deer had been shot through the skull with a “small caliber firearm,” and a photo released by the game commission shows that all four of its legs had been bound together.
“An investigation revealed the deer was shot in the head with a small caliber firearm,” officials with the Pennsylvania Game Commission wrote on Facebook.
(Pennsylvania Game Commission)
HUNTER BAGS RARE ANTLERED DOE: ‘DEER OF A LIFETIME’
“This is so sad and it makes me angry,” one commenter wrote under the game commission’s Facebook post. “What kind of person could do something like this?”
“Hopefully the person responsible for this disgusting killing will be caught and properly punished,” another said.
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Amid its investigation, the Pennsylvania Game Commission urged anyone with information to contact its Southcentral Region dispatch center at 814-643-1831, or its Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-888-PGC-8001.
Big-game hunting seasons in Pennsylvania vary between the state’s regions and wildlife management units. The statewide season for bowhunting extends from Oct. 5 through Nov. 16, while the statewide seasons for muzzleloaders and special firearms won’t open until Oct. 19 and Oct. 24, respectively.
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Penalties for the poaching of big game in Pennsylvania range from fines to the suspension of hunting licenses and even imprisonment for repeat offenders. A representative for the Pennsylvania Game Commission was not immediately available to confirm what penalties the deer poacher would face if caught.
