This I feel deserves a jail sentence if the offenders are ever caught. It shows the disrespect for wildlife that some people have. It is a shame that some people can do this and it really makes me mad to think about it. I would like to know how these people would feel if they were in the deer’s place and someone was shooting at them with a pellet gun for no reason.

By: Rick Kratzke

Yearling deer, like this one pictured near Butler Park, have been turning up dead in the 23rd and Minnekahta area of Hot Springs, victims of apparent pellet gun fire. The cases are under investigation. Curt Nettinga/Hot Springs Star

HOT SPRINGS – The deer are dropping like flies in one particular Hot Springs neighborhood. In the residential area around Minnekahta Avenue and 23rd Street, 18 deer, many of them yearlings, have been removed by Animal Control Officer Dave Green since the beginning of 2008.

Green originally suspected a colic-like condition whereby the deer consume the fresh green grass, which is indigestible to the young animal’s systems. “They get bound up, and they die,” he said.

However, a new circumstance came to light recently when Green removed a young deer from property of one homeowner in the area.

Under the deer’s right front foreleg at the juncture of the torso was a small hole, and there was a considerable amount of blood on the grass. “I’m going to examine this one,” said Green as he hauled the animal to his pickup bed.

Examination by Green revealed the deer had been shot with a pellet gun. As he recovered more deer from the neighborhood, he discovered more wounds in the same location, under the front foreleg. “Whoever this guy is, he said, “He’s a really good shot.”

While a pellet shot would not down an adult deer, the young ones are susceptible and succumb to the shot that turns out to be deadly.

County game official D.J. Schroeder said, “Some of those more powerful pellet guns are not much less velocity than a hunting rifle.” Schroeder also said that the younger deer with lighter hides are suffering a “horrible, painful death” through internal bleeding, which can take a number of hours.

An investigation has been launched by the Hot Springs Police Department. Chief Bob Evans said, “We are actively working on resolving this incident between Game, Fish & Parks, the ACO, and the police department.”

By Karen Yekel - Hot Springs Star

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