Behind the Badge - Getting to the Truth
Getting to the Truth
District Game Warden Andrew Dahlgren
October is usually a very busy month for wardens.
On Oct. 18, 2021, it was anything but busy.
As I drove around unable to locate hunters, I focused my attention on areas of my district that received less attention.
While driving around I received a cryptic anonymous text.
The text stated that an individual who doesn’t archery hunt very much allegedly shot a large whitetail deer and something didn’t seem right.
A second text came with a grainy trail camera photo of a large non-typical whitetail deer.
Like most other hunters, I like to see big deer and the picture had me intrigued.
I headed over to the hunter’s farmstead to ask about the deer.
As I neared the farmhouse, I received a third text telling me that the hunter for sure shot the deer and nothing about the story sounded right.
When I arrived at the farm the hunter’s father was outside, and I explained the reason for my visit.
I told the father that I had gotten a text about the deer his son shot and just wanted to ask a couple of questions.
The father said that his son had not shot a deer and he did not know what I was talking about.
The father told me that his son was at work in Jamestown and would not be home until later that evening.
I drove out of the farm site confused as the texter had said that the hunter had shot the deer and the father would definitely know if his son shot a big whitetail.
I figured I would just call the hunter and see if I could get answers over the phone.
So, I called the hunter and to my surprise he answered.
I explained the reason for the call and asked about the deer.
The hunter said that he saw the deer on camera and bought a bow tag.
He said that he shot the deer and tagged it.
I asked where the deer was and if I could see it.
The hunter said that his dad and him cut it up.
At this point, I knew something wasn’t right as his dad denied knowing about the deer.
It was at this point he got squirrely on me.
He said he took it to a taxidermist and asked why I wanted to know.
I explained that I had received a complaint and was following up and that with how unusual the antlers were I would like to see the deer.
He said it wasn’t at a taxidermist and instead was at a friend’s house.
He said his friend was doing a European mount of the skull.
I asked who his friend was and suddenly he could not remember his friend’s name.
We went back and forth on a couple more questions, and then he stated that he had to get back to work and would call me when he was done.
After talking with the hunter, I had more questions than when I started, and I headed back to the farm site as I was only three miles away.
When the hunter said that he and his father cut up the deer, I knew I was heading back to the farm.
As I drove in the yard, the father was still outside and I asked him why he lied to me.
The father said that I said his son shot the deer with a rifle.
I told the father at no point did I say anything about a rifle, just that his son shot a deer, and I had questions.
I explained that him lying to me only made it more suspicious.
The father apologized and offered to show me where the deer was shot and what they did with the body.
With the body? Those words didn’t make sense.
The son said they cut it up, but I was not going to turn down the opportunity to look everything over.
The father got in my patrol vehicle and we drove to the kill site.
The father explained how his son shot the deer, where it ran and that they dumped the body in the garbage pit so they wouldn’t get that “western” disease.
EHD had been wiping out deer that fall, so it was evident that they were talking about that.
I clarified that the whole deer carcass was dumped in the pit.
The father confirmed but said that the coyotes had dragged the carcass away already.
As we looked at the tree where the deer was allegedly shot and the location where the deer died, nothing was right.
As I walked west along the slough where the deer allegedly died, it was clear the father did not want me in that area, but I couldn’t see or figure out why.
The father took me to the garbage pit, and as we walked under the first wire he stopped.
When I walked under the second wire, I could see him tense up.
I walked up to the edge of the garbage pit and was not surprised when there was not a deer in the pit.
Looking around the pit, it was very evident that there had never been a deer in the pit.
The entire garbage pit was lined with pallets and other wooden materials.
Had a deer been placed in the pit at any point in the last week there would be blood somewhere.
There was no blood to be seen.
I walked back over to the father and simply asked one question.
Will you tell me the truth now?
The father patted me on my shoulder a couple of times and said, “I suppose you deserve the truth.”
The father admitted that his son had shot the deer with a rifle and that he got scared once he shot the deer.
They left the deer out overnight in the cattail slough and came and got it the next day.
When they dragged the deer out of the slough the hair sloughed off, so they cut the head off and left the carcass by the slough.
We went back over to the slough to look at the carcass.
The body was laying 10 yards from where I stopped walking.
The carcass was decayed, but you could still see the bullet hole in the cape.
As I was documenting the evidence, the father told me the gun was back at the house.
Once finished, we went back to the house, and I seized a Browning A-bolt .300 WSM.
The father assured me that he would talk with his son when he got home that evening and his son would tell me the truth about what happened.
As I left the farm, the son called and said that he picked up the head and would bring it to me.
I thanked him and explained that his father had told me the deer was not legally taken.
We arranged to meet up so I could get the deer head and issue citations.
When he arrived, he handed me the biggest non-typical whitetail deer skull I had ever seen.
He explained that he had the deer on camera and tried hunting it with his bow for about two weeks.
The deer would never get closer than about 100 yards, and he got frustrated and took the rifle with one night and shot it when it came out.
He was charged with hunting big game in a closed season and wanton waste of a big game animal.
It was explained that there were numerous other charges that could have been filed, but since he ultimately confessed and brought me the deer skull those were the only two charges I would pursue.
The skull was taken to the Jamestown office where the big game biologist scored it at just over 220 inches with 26 scoreable points.
The skull was mounted into a full body display for the Report All Poachers program and currently sits in the Fargo Scheels in the firearms section.