Post by Woody Williams on Jun 18, 2007 11:53:01 GMT -5
GOOD BOY!!
Second District Law Enforcement Division canines, within days of completing their 8-week training course, made some significant marks in the early days of turkey season. Captain Howard (Doc) Hodges’ dog “Rube” led officers to a bait site and Officer Scott McIntosh’s “Buddy” found one attempting to take over the limit and another hunting without a license.
On April 7th while on routine patrol Sgt. Brett Zalla checked a grandfather and grandson coming out of a farm from hunting. At the time the youth did not have a license. Both were from Tennessee. As Zalla explained license requirements and informed the grandfather that he needed a nonresidence license if he was going to hunt during the regular season even though he owned the land, he also noticed an empty bag of corn in the back of granddad’s pickup.
Zalla then left, but stopped down the road a piece and called Capt. Hodges to bring his dog to locate the corn. “Rube” acquired the track leading away from the truck tracks and found four bait sights. All four sights were documented for later court evidence.
On the second weekend of the regular season Zalla caught Granddad and grandson hunting over the baited area. The grandson was approximately 100 yards away from his grandfather when they were caught, too far for granddad to take control of the gun.
William Lewis Douglas, 62, of Portland, Tenn., was fined $1,700 and costs in Allen District Court by Judge Frank Wakefield. He was fined $1000.00 for the bait, $500.00 for not being in control of his grandson’s safety, $200.00 for license violations, lost two shotguns, and his hunting privileges for two years.
On April 15th, two days after completion of K-9 training, McIntosh and "Buddy" noticed a pickup truck next to a gate on the side of the road while patrolling north Logan County. There was blood in the front driver’s side corner. A KDSS check turned up no hunting license for the truck’s owner. That suspicion led him to put "Buddy" on the track and he immediately picked up the scent.
He tracked through the gate, down an old grass road in a cow pasture, across two barbed wire fences, through a second gate, and into a wooded area. Buddy tracked right up to two unsuspecting turkey hunters sitting at the edge of a field about 4/10th of a mile from the truck. The truck owner, W.G. Brooks, 29, of Lewisburg, produced a hunting license and had already telechecked a turkey that morning. He also had a loaded turkey gun.
The other person was a juvenile with no hunting license or hunter education card in possession. McIntosh charged Brooks with attempting to take over the limit of turkey and seized his shotgun as evidence. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Sue Carol Browning in Logan District Court. The juvenile was given a warning on his license and orange card issues. "We went through two patches of woods and over two fences to find them," said McIntosh. "I’d have never found them without the dog."
Both dogs, from the same litter of pups and the same blood line as three of the Department’s other dogs, had completed K-9 academy a week earlier.. Both these cases might have been solved without the dogs but they sure reduced the time required. As word gets out they will also become a great deterrent to future wildlife crimes.
Second District Law Enforcement Division canines, within days of completing their 8-week training course, made some significant marks in the early days of turkey season. Captain Howard (Doc) Hodges’ dog “Rube” led officers to a bait site and Officer Scott McIntosh’s “Buddy” found one attempting to take over the limit and another hunting without a license.
On April 7th while on routine patrol Sgt. Brett Zalla checked a grandfather and grandson coming out of a farm from hunting. At the time the youth did not have a license. Both were from Tennessee. As Zalla explained license requirements and informed the grandfather that he needed a nonresidence license if he was going to hunt during the regular season even though he owned the land, he also noticed an empty bag of corn in the back of granddad’s pickup.
Zalla then left, but stopped down the road a piece and called Capt. Hodges to bring his dog to locate the corn. “Rube” acquired the track leading away from the truck tracks and found four bait sights. All four sights were documented for later court evidence.
On the second weekend of the regular season Zalla caught Granddad and grandson hunting over the baited area. The grandson was approximately 100 yards away from his grandfather when they were caught, too far for granddad to take control of the gun.
William Lewis Douglas, 62, of Portland, Tenn., was fined $1,700 and costs in Allen District Court by Judge Frank Wakefield. He was fined $1000.00 for the bait, $500.00 for not being in control of his grandson’s safety, $200.00 for license violations, lost two shotguns, and his hunting privileges for two years.
On April 15th, two days after completion of K-9 training, McIntosh and "Buddy" noticed a pickup truck next to a gate on the side of the road while patrolling north Logan County. There was blood in the front driver’s side corner. A KDSS check turned up no hunting license for the truck’s owner. That suspicion led him to put "Buddy" on the track and he immediately picked up the scent.
He tracked through the gate, down an old grass road in a cow pasture, across two barbed wire fences, through a second gate, and into a wooded area. Buddy tracked right up to two unsuspecting turkey hunters sitting at the edge of a field about 4/10th of a mile from the truck. The truck owner, W.G. Brooks, 29, of Lewisburg, produced a hunting license and had already telechecked a turkey that morning. He also had a loaded turkey gun.
The other person was a juvenile with no hunting license or hunter education card in possession. McIntosh charged Brooks with attempting to take over the limit of turkey and seized his shotgun as evidence. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Sue Carol Browning in Logan District Court. The juvenile was given a warning on his license and orange card issues. "We went through two patches of woods and over two fences to find them," said McIntosh. "I’d have never found them without the dog."
Both dogs, from the same litter of pups and the same blood line as three of the Department’s other dogs, had completed K-9 academy a week earlier.. Both these cases might have been solved without the dogs but they sure reduced the time required. As word gets out they will also become a great deterrent to future wildlife crimes.
