IDNR to poachers: 'We are watching'

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Law Enforcement acknowledged Wednesday the charges filed against three individuals, including one Minooka man, after an 11-month investigation into a deer poaching case.

The three men were cited for numerous Wildlife Code violations, including illegally taking a potential state-record whitetail deer, and now face charges through the Grundy County State's Attorney John Bates' office.

"Our Conservation Police officers are tasked with the mission of protecting the public and our natural resources and they do it effectively and vigilantly," IDNR Director Marc Miller said. "I am proud of the hard work of the IDNR law enforcement staff and have a warning to those who choose to hunt illegally: We are watching."

"The IDNR Office of Law Enforcement has zero tolerance when it comes to poaching matters," IDNR Conservation Police Chief Rafael Gutierrez said. "Our Conservation Police will continue to protect our natural resources so that legal sportsmen get every opportunity they deserve."

The investigation focused on the unlawful harvest of a 36-point non-typical deer scoring 261 5/8 and valued at $35,000. Among the charges, the men are accused of illegally hunting between November 2009 until May 2011 at Material Service Corporation property at 3450 Southmor Road in Morris.

Charges were filed after a thorough investigation with assistance from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Alberta Sustainable Resources Department, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Christopher Kiernan, 45, of Minooka faces 44 charges related to unlawfully taking of a total of 24 deer in Illinois and Canada over a 10-year period.

IDNR spokesman Stacey Solano said today the 36-point buck mount is in the department's custody as evidence in the case.

She said the judge who hears the evidence will decide how the mount is processed (final disposition of the head) following a guilty or not guilty verdict in the case.

Solano also noted that, in general, taxidermists cannot have in their possession any animal or bird without a written record, which includes where the animal was taken, and deer tags for all deer taken.

No taxidermist has been charged yet in this case, she said.

"This is an ongoing case," Solano stressed.

She also noted that nothing removes a taxidermist from the responsibility of following federal laws and rules.

Solano could not comment further on discrepancies between Kiernan' account of the 36-point buck being taken in Kendall County as noted in a published report in the February 2010 edition of Prairie States Outdoors and the criminal complaint's assertion it was taken on Material Service Company property at Morris.

Kiernan is charged with falsifying harvest records, however, according to the filing in the case.

The charges against Kiernan, according to the IDNR, include 11 counts of hunting without permission of landowner and being an accessory to the charge; 19 counts of unlawful possession of illegally taken deer; 5 counts of hunting with invalidated permit; 5 counts of unlawfully taking of deer; 2 counts of falsifying harvest records; and one count each of failing to report harvest on the same day as killed and failing to tag a deer as required.
 
Garret Armstrong, 31, of Avon, N.Y., faces 26 counts, including 9 counts of hunting without permission of landowner and being an accessory to the charge; 8 counts of hunting with an invalidated permit; 4 counts of unlawful possession of illegally taken deer; 2 counts of unlawfully taking of deer; and one count each of failing to tag deer as required, failing to report harvest as required and falsifying harvest records.

Larry Smith, 49, of Williamsburg, Ontario, Canada, faces seven counts related to the criminal complaint, including one count each of hunting without permission of landowner, hunting with invalidated permit, failing to tag deer as required, unlawful possession of illegally taken deer, unlawfully taking deer, failing to report harvest as required and falsifying harvest records.