Featured photo: Oregon State Police
CBS News and The Washington Post reported that two to three deer have been maimed by poachers using ill-equipped arrows in southwestern Oregon. The deer have been seen walking and grazing, but they are doing so with arrows protruding from their bodies.
The arrows used in the incidents were not equipped with broadheads. Photos taken of the deer suggest the culprit has little to no knowledge of what’s required to hunt deer, nor does the person appear to be a very good shot.
“Our belief is it is malicious in nature. Any legitimate hunter would never target an animal using those arrows,” Oregon State Police spokesman Kaipo Raiser told the Washington Post, adding that it is also currently far outside deer hunting season. “At this point, we have been unable to capture or tranquilize the deer because the tranquilizer gun [must be used within] about 30 yards in range for the tranquilizer dart to be effective, which is fairly difficult with wild game.”
Images of two of the three deer maimed by poachers in southwest Oregon. Photos: Oregon State Police
While readers of Bowhunting World might argue that getting within 30 yards of deer is quite doable, the difficulty detailed by the police spokesman does underscore the amount of effort and year-round study required of bowhunters who hunt deer legally during fall hunting seasons.
The Oregon State Police reported on their Facebook page that the injuries to the targeted deer do not appear to be life threatening. As of May 2, there were 434 comments and over 2,000 shares of the social post. Based on Facebook post comments, hunters and non-hunters alike seemed to recognize this was not the act of a hunter, largely because many recognized the use of field points instead of broadheads.
“Those arrows look like field points...so probably not someone trying to poach for food...some sicko who just wanted to shoot a deer without knowing what the hell he's doing.” wrote Chris Volkert.
Another commenter, Dustin Morse, added, “Who shoots (sic) live animals with practice arrows wtf. This was either malicious or somebody doesn't know wtf they're doing at all. If they were legit hunting (sic) tips I'd say perhaps they need some more time on the range and do some better tracking work but those are tips you shoot into the hay bales and never a live animal.”
The State of Oregon initially offered a $500 reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible. The reward has since increased to $2,000 after a local chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association and local archery shops offered an additional $1,500, according to reports from The Oregonian.
