According to the Michigan DNR, a family squabble over inherited hunting land has led to one man being criminally charged for hunter harassment toward his brother. The trail cam evidence shows that one man sprayed his brother’s hunting area with deer repellent. While this might be seen as a harmless — and perhaps funny — deer camp prank among two brothers who share a love for each other and deer hunting, that isn’t the case here.

Evidently, the harassment took place on public land adjacent to private land owned by the two brothers, who inherited the land from their father. The Michigan DNR says the suspect brother was angry because he thought his brother was intentionally cutting off deer by hunting public land next to their private land. 

According to the official report, Michigan Conservation Officer Mike Wells received the complaint of hunter harassment during the opener of firearm deer season in Newaygo County, which is about 40 miles north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The brother who claimed harassment provided CO Wells with two SD cards from trail cams that show the suspect brother using a backpack sprayer to spray two ladder stands and surrounding vegetation located on U.S. Forest Service property. CO Wells walked to the two stand sites and then collected samples of the unknown liquid as evidence. (The liquid had dried into white droplets.)

CO Wells then visited the suspect brother as he sat in a hunting blind on the adjacent private land. The report indicates the suspect was illegally hunting over bait. CO Wells showed the suspect the trail cam pics, and he admitted to spraying Liquid Fence (a deer and rabbit repellent used by homeowners and gardeners) in the two locations because his brother was intentionally cutting off deer by hunting the public land next to the private ground owned by both brothers.

According to CO Wells, the suspect apologized and said he “let his emotions get the best of him.” In this case, however, a simple apology wasn’t sufficient; CO Wells is pursuing charges of hunter harassment and baiting deer when prohibited.