Fall/Winter 2000

Membership Dollars at Work: Decoying the "Deer"

It's a late December night, shortly after 2:00 a.m. Two men with 3-day old beards climb into their truck and leave for the eastern part of the county, across the river. They drive through the darkness, anticipating the success of the early-morning hunt. They swing the front end of the 4 X 4 into a field, spilling the fifth of whisky that is riding shotgun. The darkness of night is interrupted by 200,000 candlepower beams which emanate from the passengers's side. The spotlighter is careful not to let the light reflect off of the cracked windshield. The man slowly moves the spotlight across the soybean field, searching for the telltale reflection of eyes.

The truck eases to a stop and then slowly backs-up. There, standing in the field near the edge of the woods, is a small white-tailed buck. Not too far away is a large doe and two fawns. As the man in the passenger's side holds the spotlight, the driver slips his rifle out the window and takes aim. With the engine still running, the vibration is causing the aim to be difficult.

The eerie sound of the crack of the rifle breaks the silence of the still night. But the deer does not move. In disbelief the man chambers another round and fires again. Still, the deer remains motionless. It is then that they notice the blue lights and sirens closing in on them from both entrances of the field. Two conservation officers with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks were on the scene. These game theifs now realize why the deer did not move. What they thought was a real deer, was instead, a decoy.

According to T.G. Jennings, the former Chief of Law Enforcement with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and its current Director of Enforcement and Conservation, the fine for shooting from a public right of way is $100 to $500 plus court costs. Shooting from a motor vehicle may draw an additional fine of $25 to $100 plus court costs.

"Headlighting or spotlighting deer is much more serious, carrying a penalty of $2,000 to $5,000 plus court costs, mandatory confiscation of all equipment except the motor vehicle, 5 days imprisonment in a county jail and loss of hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for a period of three years," said Jennings.

The fines for headlighting were recently increased to the current levels due to the severity and common occurrence of this illegal activity. In addition, a new law states that once a violator is found guilty, a judge may not suspend any part of the fines mentioned above.

The use of decoy deer has had a huge impact on the poaching of white-tailed deer in Mississippi. The decoy gives the conservation officers the ability to setup in a safe area and provides them the opportunity to witness any illegal acts firsthand.

In an effort to assist conservation officers throughout Mississippi, the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation began the Decoy Deer Program in January of 1998. Through this program, decoy deer are constructed and then donated to Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks conservation officers who are assigned to the 82 Mississippi counties.

"Since the inception of this program the Foundation has donated 47 decoys and will continue to donate decoys to replace the ones which are worn out. To date each district has been equipped with an average of 7 decoy deer," said Peyton Self, President of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

"In addition to decoy deer, Wildlife Mississippi plans to construct a limited amount of full mount turkeys which will be used as decoys. The turkey decoys will aid conservation officers during spring turkey season when shooting from public roads is a problem," continued Self.

Self added that these decoys look extremely life-like and under the right conditions can be mistaken for the real thing by even the most knowledgeable of hunters.

The decoys are constructed using actual skins from animals which were harvested during the season. These skins are obtained from taxidermists and meat processors and are then mounted on a commercial form which is made of a durable foam.

Before the use of decoys, an officer had to witness the act of shooting at live deer. Although there have been violators apprehended in this manner, the chances of witnessing this act are not in the officers' favor.

Poachers take many deer from Mississippi's law-abiding citizens. Photo by Michael Kelly.

"In Mississippi we average two officers per county," stated Jennings. "Working headlighters is extremely dangerous and we like to have our officers work in teams. This increases the safety factor for our officers in the field, but at the same time it limits the amount of territory they can cover on any given night."

Jennings went on to say that the public must become more involved by communicating and working with officers in the field. Poaching is stealing from all honest and law abiding sportsmen. If there are illegal activities taking place, make conservation officers aware of the problem.

Those sportsmen who wish to stay anonymous may still assist conservation officers by calling the 1-800-BE-SMART hotline to report violations and illegal activities.