MOUNT VERNON — With the fall deer archery season going strong, area hunters are gearing up for gun season, which is just over a week away. Younger hunters, however, will hit the outdoors for the youth gun season, which runs today and Sunday.
Knox County Wildlife Officer Mike Miller expects another strong weekend, but would like to remind hunters of a few things.
“Youth gun season is for kids 17 years of age or younger,” Miller said. “They have to be supervised by a non-hunting adult, which can have no more than two youth with them. They can only kill one deer for the weekend with a gun. If they want to continue hunting, they will have to be doing archery.
“Non-hunting adults can have no hunting equipment with them whatsoever. They also have to be right there, observing and assisting. They have to accompany the youth the entire time. You can’t walk them out to the tree stand or blind, and then go home and pick them up later. You have to be right there with them.”
Miller also would like to clarify the deer permits needed for hunting this weekend.
“I know there has been a lot of confusion over the deer tags, especially the youth tags and the antlerless deer tags,” said Miller. “If you want to kill the bag limit of six deer during the season, you can only use three of the youth licenses. Then you would have to purchase three of the special antlerless deer permits. Kids can purchase those. I know some of the license agencies around the county have said they cannot purchase an antlerless tag. Kids can purchase those tags. If they have questions about that or don’t want to listen to you, just go to another place and buy it. That has been a big problem lately.”
There are also a few other items that all hunters should take note of.
“Keep in mind that there is an additional check station that is not in the book — Danville Outdoors,” said Miller. “Also, if anyone else is out hunting this weekend, they are required to wear blaze orange. If you are hunting anything but waterfowl, you must be wearing a blaze orange coat, vest or jacket.
“There are some extended hours for the call lines,” Miller added. “1-800-WILDLIFE will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for anyone needing questions answered. Prior to and during the regular deer-gun season, which will start Dec. 1, the call center hours are also extended. Starting Friday after Thanksgiving, they will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Nov. 29 and 30, the lines will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Then Monday through Friday, Dec. 1 through 5, they will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Dec. 6 and 7, the lines will be open noon to 5 p.m. The lines are open for any questions whatsoever. You can report wildlife violations, or ask general questions. Instead of people trying to get in touch with me and having to leave a voicemail, they can call and get their questioned answered a lot quicker.
“The tip line, 1-800-POACHER, will be open the week of deer-gun season from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Those are extended hours also.”
CASES CLOSED: An area poaching case began to come to a close. Two Mount Vernon residents pled out in Mount Vernon Municipal Court, while a third is still awaiting trial.
Joshua Anderson received 10 citations, which included providing false information to a check station, possession of untagged deer and turkey parts, failure to deliver harvested turkey to a check station for tagging, hunting with the deer permit of another and killing more than two deer in one day.
“It was an investigation into the illegal taking and possession of white-tail deer and wild turkey and it resulted into 15 citations being issued to three individuals,” said Miller. “The investigation resulted in enough information to issue four search warrants. Those warrants were served in the county with assistance from the Knox County Dog Warden’s office, the Mount Vernon Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.”
According to Miller, Anderson, who appeared in Mount Vernon Municipal Court, plead guilty to six charges on Nov. 5. He was ordered to pay $1,000 in fines and court costs, forfeited of all hunting implements involved in the illegal taking of the deer and wild turkey, his hunting privileges were suspended for 5 years and he has to pay restitution for the wild turkey taken.
Also convicted was Kathy Boroff on one count for providing false information to a check station. She received a $150 fine plus court costs.
Jeff Anderson was issued four citations for providing false information to a check station, hunting without a license, hunting deer without a permit and failure to immediately tag a deer where it fell. He is scheduled to appear in Mount Vernon Municipal Court on Dec. 10.
Another case, which recently came to a close, was that of trees taken unlawfully from the Knox Lake Wildlife Area. Richard Weiler of Fredericktown and Don Miller of Mount Vernon were convicted of stealing over $3,000 worth of large black cherry threes in 2007.
Weiler was found guilty unlawful cutting and removal of large standing black cherry trees from a wildlife area. He was ordered by the court to pay fines of $235, additional court cost and $1,606.50 in restitution to the Division of Wildlife.
Miller operates Miller’s Tree Service, which was responsible for the cutting of the trees. The logs were sold to a logging company for a lump sum of $3,500. Miller was found guilty of charges relating to the unlawful cutting and removal of large standing black cherry trees from a wildlife area. Miller was ordered by the court to pay fines of $175, additional court cost and $1,606.50 in restitution to the Division of Wildlife. He will also serve two years probation.
“We’ve been having issues with encroachment for the last couple of years, so this is a big issue for the division,” said Mike Miller. “This started when we did boundary inspections in March of 2007. The trees were estimated to have been about 2,500 board feet. ... Some of the trees were up to 36 to 38 inches in diameter. This is a huge problem for state properties. We’ve had this happen before at Knox Lake. We are now stepping up and, annually, we are walking the boundaries of Knox Lake. In the last six years, we’ve probably lost about $25,000 to $30,000 worth of timber. It is a hard thing to keep track of.”
