Moose Droppings

A Lewis County deputy assisting Tennessee Game Warden in attempting to arrest two poaching suspects shot one as he tried to level a long gun on the officers.

According to a news release from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Dept., Tuesday night (Nov. 25) around 8:30 pm, Lewis County deputies were called to assist a Lewis County TWRA Wildlife Officer.

The un-named oficer said he had seen a vehcile spotlighting for deer and attempted a stop. The vehicle howwever fled at high speed.

Lewis County deputies caught up to the chase on Natchez Trace Parkway. At one point the suspect vehicle forced a deputy’s car off the road.

The suspect’s vehicle began smoking and slowed to a stop.

According to the sheriff’s dept. release, “The Driver exited the driver side with his hands in his coat. Lewis County Deputies and the T.W.R.A officer exited their vehicles.
The driver was given verbal command by Lewis County Deputies to get down on the ground. When the Lewis County Deputy put his hands on the driver, the driver resisted restraint. The driver was identified as Robert “Bob” Allan Szostek.

At the same time, the passenger exited the passenger side with a long gun in hand and ran east up an embankment. Lewis County Deputies gave verbal command for the fleeing subject to get down on the ground. The passenger turned toward the three Lewis County Deputies and the T.W.R.A officer and pointed the long gun toward them.

One Lewis County Deputy fireed his service weapon at the passenger and the passenger fell to the ground. The passenger immediately got back up and ran again. The deputy fired a total of four shots.

The Chattanoogan
Hours latter the alleged suspect contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department requesting assistance because he had been shot. Thomas J. Szostek was airlifted to a hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Multiple charges for both men are being filed;

The driver, Robert “Bob” Allan Szostek was taken into custody and charged:
by T.W.R.A officer with:
Hunting from a Public Road;
Spotlighting;
Hunting from a motor vehicle;
Hunting big game in closed season;
Felony Evading; and
Reckless Endangerment

by Lewis County Deputy officer with:
Possession drug paraphernalia
Reckless endangerment
Reckless endangerment
Reckless endangerment
Resisting arrest
Felony Evading

Thomas J Szostek is charged with two counts of First Degree Attempted Murder by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department. Charged by T.W.R.A officer with Hunting from a Public Road; Spotlighting; Hunting from a motor vehicle; and Hunting big game in closed season.

Once again this shows us how dangerous the job our law enforcement community does every day especially the game wardens who face armed suspects in remote areas often. When ever you get a chance thank them for the job they do for us.

A deer hunter walking out of the woods was mistaken by another as a deer and shot in the back.

The man was shot with a rifle by another hunter who mistook him for a deer, said Officer Fred Gorchess of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The victim was walking out of the woods near Watha about 5:30 p.m. Friday when he was shot, Gorchess said.

A 23-year-old man was charged with negligent hunting resulting in bodily injury, a misdemeanor, in connection with the shooting, Gorchess said.

Wilmington Star

The hunter that was shot is hospitalized in Wilmington recovering. There is little other details that have been made public to help explain how this could of happened. Hunters in North Carolina are required to wear unknown if either had it on. The end of legal shooting light was at 5:32 pm the article states the accident happened around 5:30pm.

Bottom line is the shooter failed a number of safety rules including the most important one to identify your target. In most cases like this one I don’t feel that the victim shares any of the blame because the shooter is 100% responsible for the identification of the target and the release of the bullet.
Don’t get me wrong there are things we can do to reduce the risk of getting shot including wearing hunter orange hat or vest. Use artificial light when exiting the woods. I wear a light clipped on my hat so as I walk out there is little doubt what I am even though I have the utmost trust in the safety of the individuals I hunt with.

Hunter safety is all our responsibility so be safe.

Post by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo & Quotes courtesy of NCWRC

Thanks to some quick work by Orange County Sheriff’s Office and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Enforcement Division four men were apprehended on multiple game and drug charges.

The case began in the early morning hours of Oct. 5, with reports of shots fired in the Efland/Brookhollow community. An Orange County deputy made a traffic stop of a pickup truck matching the description of a vehicle seen in the area where shots were heard. Wildlife officers Justin Mathis and Forrest Orr quickly arrived to assist the deputy and began an investigation.
Visible were two rifles, a shotgun and a bloody knife covered in deer hair inside the passenger compartment. A freshly-killed, antlered buck head was found in the pickup bed. Upon questioning the two men in the truck, officers learned two other men had been dropped off in the woods to look for additional deer that had been shot. These suspects were later apprehended at a nearby store.

These unnamed men face multiple charges;

The following charges were made:
• 10 violations of night deer hunting regulations
• Nine unlawful possession of deer violations
• One violation of hunting while impaired regulation
• One count of unlawful transportation
• One count of closed season deer hunting
• One count of hunting without a license
• One violation of big-game license regulations

A tip of the hat to the officers involved and their diligent work to take poachers and drug dealers off our streets. When a poacher fires a rifle in the dark there is no way he can know nor does he care what lies beyond the animal he is trying to kill. A house beyond the trees, a person driving down another road, or someone walking could be struck with the poacher’s bullet. We need to get these slobs off our streets and out of our fields & forests. Turn a poacher in… NC 24 hour hotline 1-800-662-7137… I’m sure if you’re from another state they have one as well.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Western Carolina University in Cullowhee NC reports that a dead black bear cub wrapped in two Obama signs was discovered on the campus earlier this morning. The bear cub appears to have been killed by gun shot to the head. At this time there is no group or individual claiming responsibility for this act. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Enforcement division is heading the investigation. Currently bear season is open in the area around the area but obviously the illegal disposal and potentially other game violations are being investigated.

Why anyone would do this senseless act is unclear. The conclusions many are jumping to is that a McCain supporter must be behind this act. Of course one could surmise in an area of that the state (rural areas) where McCain appears to be doing better that an Obama supporter could have done this to stir things up. I don’t think laying blame on any group is the way to go and we should wait till the authorities complete their investigation.

Bottom line why anyone would kill a bear cub and dump it is a senseless act stealing from all the citizens of the state. I hope anyone with information on this or any game violation will call;

Report wildlife violations
1-800-662-7137

WYFF 4

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Michael Comstock of Columbia NC has been found guilty of hunting bear during the closed season as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm. The firearm charge was a federal offense resulting in a six and a half year jail sentence.

Surveillance and investigation into bear poaching in eastern North Carolina by officers of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has led to a federal firearms conviction.
Michael Augustus Comstock, 50, of Columbia, N.C. was sentenced Sept. 17 in U.S. District Court to six years and six months in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon, plus three years supervised probation upon his release.
Comstock pleaded guilty Oct. 6 in state court to hunting during a closed season, which resulted in a $2,000 fine, replacement costs of $2,232 and suspension of his hunting license for two years, effective beginning when released from federal penitentiary. He was also required to pay court costs of $121.

The press release on this case from the NCWRC gives us some of the details of what happened.

Sgt. Mark Cagle of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission led the Tyrrell County investigation, which began April 2007. A stakeout led to apprehension of a suspect and collection of evidence, including a recently killed bear, a stolen 12-guage shotgun that had been recently fired, a 55-gallon barrel of peanut butter, a 55-gallon barrel of bubblegum and 55-gallon barrel of peppermint candy, as well as observation of hunting dogs released at the bait site where the bear was killed that same morning.
Forensic testing by State Bureau of Investigation revealed the slug that killed the bear matched the stolen shotgun.
In addition to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Wildlife officers involved, along with Sgt. Cagle, were Sgt. Mark Rich, Robert Wayne, George Owens, Sgt. Ed Alston, Tim Wadsworth, Jim Schreckengost, Brian White and Nathan Green.
A federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment on Nov. 17, 2007 charging a felon with possession of a firearm. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bragdon served as prosecutor for the government. On June 16, 2008 after a four-day trial before a federal jury, Comstock was found guilty.
U.S. attorneys recently sent a letter commending the diligence, investigative skills and ethics of the wildlife officers to Col. Kenneth Everhart, chief of the Division of Enforcement for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
“I appreciate this recognition of our officers and their role in this case,” Col. Everhart said. “The level of commitment and hard work by these wildlife officers was outstanding. I also appreciate the efforts by federal prosecutors and the cooperating law enforcement agencies in bringing this case to a successful conclusion.”

A tip of the hat to the wildlife officers that worked so diligently on this case and work hard every day to protect the resources of the state.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Seems his campaign stole the Shot Show Email list from the National Shooting Sports Foundation using it to send out a press release about the National Hunting and Fishing Day. Talk about sleaze tactics, this is sure one if it is true. NSSF has sent notification to the Obama campaign;

NSSF’s letter also demands that the Obama campaign destroy all copies of the list, identify how they obtained the list and pay monetary damages to NSSF for its misappropriation and unauthorized use of the association’s intellectual property. NSSF demanded an immediate response from the Obama campaign and has threatened to file a lawsuit against the campaign if its demands are not met.

We’ll keep an eye on this one as it develops.

Imagine you’re a game warden and you have caught a group of individuals violating the game laws. You can write them a ticket and let them go except none of them have a valid ID. Well this is the situation that Jeff Brown a NC Game Warden faced and he took all of them into custody. The reporter for the Indy, a local free far left leaning paper believes the color of these men’s skin is why they were arrested. HELLO they were stealing from all of us by fishing without a license plus he has no way to properly identify them.

Brown asked to see each of their fishing licenses, but no one had one. He then asked for their identification. Among them, all they had were two El Salvadorian ID cards and an expired California driver’s license. He arrested the five men—Antonio Ordaz, Jose Ernesto, Javier Jimenez, Edwin Marquez and Juan Aria—who, because they were fishing at the wrong hole at the wrong time, are in custody at the Immigration and Custom Enforcement holding facility in Alamance County Jail, waiting to be deported to their home countries.
The men could have merely been cited, but Brown chose to arrest them.
“We’re certified state law enforcement officers, and it’s up to an officer’s discretion whether to arrest someone,” Brown told the Indy. “If a person has no I.D. on them, and you feel that they may not appear in court on you, or that they may not pay the ticket off … yeah, we do arrest them.”

On top of that they are criminals because they are here illegally. I do not understand why anyone would expect a law officer, any law officer, to over look whether someone is here legally or not? If you come here illegally why would you respect any of other laws as well including fish & game laws? They are not facing deportation just because they fished in the wrong spot they are facing deportation because they are here illegally.

Of course the INDY must of uncovered ample evidence to prove that Game Wardens are purposely targeting brown skin individuals in the hopes of getting them deported. A pretty serious accusation they have seemed to lay out here but no real evidence to support it.

Within the last two years, N.C. Wildlife officers have checked the licenses of 110,000 anglers. Of those, about 5,000 of them were issued citations. How many of those citations resulted in arrest, the agency couldn’t say.

That translates into less then 5% of those checked getting a ticket and if you have a valid ID I’m sure you are cited and let go. I don’t fish much so I’ve haven’t been checked in a while but hunting I’ve been checked a number of times. The numbers just don’t support a conspiracy to target brown skinned people like the article alleges.

I think the INDY owes an apology to Officer Brown for even suggesting that he was prejudicial in checking these men and enforcing the law. Myself I think Officer Brown should get a big Thank You from the citizens of this state because he got five criminals off the street as well as protecting our natural resources.

Last week a heinous murder was committed on a Greyhound Bus in Canada where one passenger killed another passenger.

Just a week after the gruesome decapitation death of a passenger on a Greyhound bus in rural Manitoba sent shock waves around the world, an animal-rights lobby is drawing comparisons between the victim’s death and the handling of meat animals in North American slaughterhouses.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals submitted an ad for publication in the Portage Daily Graphic this week that compared the murder of Tim McLean, 22, to the “needless killing” of chickens, cows and pigs in “factory farms.”
“Like human victims, animals in slaughterhouses experience terror when they are attacked by a knife-wielding assailant,” says PETA’s Lindsay Rajt in a news release. “We are challenging everyone who is rightly horrified by this crime to look into their hearts and consider leaving violence off their dinner plates.”

National Post
This ad is way over the top and I understand why the paper wouldn’t run it. I also think that the crazy ridiculous ad should be shown so the mainstream can see how whacked this organization really is.

Of course this stance by PETA is hypocritical when they as an organization euthanize animals. PETA workers were caught here in North Carolina a few years ago dumping dead dogs and cats in dumpsters.

Now don’t get me wrong I understand that an overpopulation of dogs and cats must be controlled and euthanizing them in many cases is the only option. However if you’re an organization that equates the life of a cat, dog, chicken or cow as an equal with humans it seems inconceivable that you could kill them Never mind demonizing those who utilize animals for food as established by the Creator.

Charges have yet to be filed in the double homicide in Pisgah National Forest where John and Irene Bryant were abducted robbed and murdered. North Carolina and Federal officials have said that convicted murder Gary Hilton is the prime suspect in the double homicide as well as a homicide in Florida.

Gary Michael Hilton is charged in the death of 46-year-old Cheryl Hodges Dunlap, a nurse from Crawfordville, Fla., whose body was found Dec. 19 in the Apalachicola National Forest.
He already has confessed to killing a Georgia hiker after abducting her on New Year’s Day.
The 61-year-old Hilton admitted killing hiker Meredith Emerson and was sentenced to life in prison. Officials have not released details of Hilton’s transfer Friday from the state prison in Jackson, Ga.
Federal authorities have said they are leading the investigation into the Bryants’ killings.

Asheville Citizens Times

Hopefully justice for the Bryant’s will happen soon.

Photo Citizen Times

A story we have been following closely here is the murder of the Bryant’s while hiking in Pisgah National Forest last fall. The Bryant’s had gone on a fall hike and were initially reported as missing but as time went on their disappearance became more suspicious. A month after they went missing the bludgeoned body of Irene Bryant was found near their parked car with no sign of John. Authorities presumed John was also murdered as well but it wasn’t till this February when a hunter discovered his remains that they knew for certain. By the time John’s body was discovered authorities had already linked the Bryant murders to a serial killer Gary Hilton. Hilton has confessed and been convicted of a similar style murder in nearby Georgia. Additionally he has been charged and awaits extradition to Florida for a murder there. Authorities here in North Carolina have not charged him with murder but they are clear that he is the person they believed that carried out these senseless crimes.

The autopsy confirmed the skeletal remains as John Bryant his pace maker was discovered with the remains. The autopsy lists the cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the head and no other injuries were noted.

Now what remains is the need for justice in this case. I hope the federal authorities who are taking the lead are able to bring this case to a close. We like to think that our parks and public recreational areas are safe from crime but the sad reality they are not.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Zibby Wilder director of public relations for Animal Protection Institute denies that their organization had anything to do with the release of two monocled cobras in Onslow County. As earlier reported in on this blog news sources were suggesting that Animal Protection Institute had released these cobras in an effort to get lawmakers who are currently debating a bill to make private ownership of exotic animals illegal to pass the bill.

These unfounded claims made by WITN, and apparently some unnamed “officials,” are not only an example of bad journalism (not citing sources, making unfounded and slanderous claims, not bothering to call the organization you are accusing — or responding to their attempts to contact you), they are great examples of how great a need the state has for regulation of dangerous wild animals.

I’ll admit that I have no love loss for snakes, well I’ll qualify that because fried rattlesnake is pretty darn good, so I really don’t have an opinion on whether we should regulate private ownership of them.

I know little about API but given the nuts in the animal rights movement I wouldn’t be surprised if someone acted on their own thinking they were furthering API’s cause. When you have the bigger household name animal rights groups like ALF & PETA involved in or financially supporting Eco Terrorism making a leap like this is not outside the realm of possibility.
Although people at API and myself would not agree on many things I would hope that we could agree that whoever the individual or individuals are that released this snake or snakes they should be held accountable. I further stand by my earlier opinion that if this was purposely done or if someone made up this story that this is an act of terrorism.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

The Jacksonville Daily News is reporting that authorities were unsuccessful in efforts to capture what is believed to be a monocled cobra indigenous to southern Asia.

“The snake came up from under the porch and went toward her puppy,” Jen Grooms, founder and director of HERP Wildlife Rescue, said Thursday night.
“She grabbed her puppy and then it charged her,” said Jen Grooms, director of HERP Wildlife Rescue, which responded to the scene along with Onslow County Animal Control, Onslow County Emergency Medical Services and the Piney Green Volunteer Fire Department.
Grooms, who said the snake went back under the porch after charging the woman, identified the snake by peeking under the porch. When she looked, the snake showed it’s hood, which had a round circle on it - the sign of a monocled cobra, which is indigenous to Southeast Asia.
With permission from the property manager, those on the scene dismantled the front porch in an effort to capture the snake, said Animal Control Director Dino Einsig. However, the snake was not there.
“We searched for the snake and turned up nothing, so we secured,” Einsig said, adding that the snake was last seen at about 3:30 p.m. Both Grooms and Einsig believe the snake went into the woods.
“These are very fast and agile snakes, and somewhere in the ruckus it got past us,” Grooms said.

Where the snake came from and how many there are is not clear other news sources are reporting that two snakes may have been purposely released as I reported in my earlier story. We’ll continue to follow this as it develops….

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose