Moose Droppings

 7 deer ID’d by DNA Charges were filed Tuesday against three men suspected of poaching deer last year.
Daily Record/Sunday News
York Daily Record/Sunday News

Sep 28, 2006 —

Wildlife detectives said that they heard the shots echo through the countryside and that they rushed to the sound as darkness fell.

Guy Hansen said he found three men, holding loaded rifles and wearing hunting garb, riding ATVs - more than a week before the opening day of deer season.

Hansen, the wildlife conservation officer in charge of southern York County, said the suspects were caught “red-handed.” A freshly killed deer was lying nearby. A tracking dog found more.

This week, Hansen said, DNA evidence confirmed seven deer were found on a property where the Fewster family lived near Delta in November 2005.

One of the defendants, James Fewster Sr., reached Wednesday, said he was set up.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission filed charges Tuesday against Fewster, his son and another man from Maryland on suspicion of possessing deer illegally in Peach Bottom Township.

James and Robert Fewster, father and son, were charged with possessing seven deer on the property on Delta Road in Peach Bottom Township.

The third man, Ronald Wade of Maryland, was charged with possessing one deer.

Using DNA evidence in poaching cases has become more common in the past few years, in part because the price of testing has come down.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has begun encouraging its officers to add the tool to their arsenals.

To Hansen’s knowledge, it is the first time DNA was used as evidence in a York County poaching case.

The technology, he said, has its pros and cons.

The case was delayed for nearly a year so Hansen could send DNA evidence away to a laboratory to see how many different deer had been killed or somehow taken into possession.

Hansen said he was unsure how many deer or deer parts the men stashed in and around the property, so he sent meat and other samples to a wildlife DNA laboratory at the University of Maine.

The wait was a little disheartening, Hansen said, because other evidence that showed the men illegally possessed at least one deer was immediate and strong.

But, he now has what he calls definitive evidence of seven deer.

“I can go to the district justice and say there are seven deer,” Hansen said. Before, he said, “we didn’t know how many deer we were dealing with.”

James Fewster Sr. said Wednesday he is innocent.

“I didn’t do nothing,” he said during a phone interview. He would not comment further.

Robert Fewster did not return a phone call for comment. Wade could not be reached for comment.

CHARGESRobert O. Fewster

· One count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicleOne count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicle · Seven counts - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer)

One count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicle Seven counts - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer) James L. Fewster Sr.· One count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicle

One count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicle · Seven counts - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer)Seven counts - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer) · One count - making false reports

Seven counts - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer) One count - making false reports Ronald C. Wade· One count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicle

One count - loaded firearm on a motor vehicle · One count - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer) One count - unlawfully hunt for, trap, take, kill, transport, conceal, possess or use any game or wildlife (white-tailed deer) · One count - making false reportsOne count - making false reports

One count - making false reports

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