A man trespassing after dark in the Sutter Bypass Wildlife Area last Saturday ended up in handcuffs after wildlife officers spotted blood on his hands and clothing, then found a loaded rifle hidden beneath a towel in his back seat. By the time the night was over, he faced nine misdemeanor charges tied to an illegally killed deer.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers were conducting an enforcement detail across Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties when they contacted the man trespassing after hours in the wildlife area, according to FOX40. Officers noticed blood on his hands and clothes, and a rifle magazine sitting in plain view on the rear seat of his vehicle, details the department shared in a Facebook post published Thursday.
Rifle, Bloodstained Sweatshirt Found in Vehicle
A search of the vehicle turned up a loaded .22-caliber rifle concealed beneath a towel in the back seat, along with a bloodstained sweatshirt, the station reported. Officials said the blood had come from a freshly killed deer that had been quartered and stuffed inside a black garbage bag. The man was arrested and booked into Sutter County Jail on nine misdemeanor charges that evening.
Those charges included unlawful method of take for big game, taking game in violation of regulations, unlawful take of deer without a tag, and hunting without a valid license. He was also charged with taking a deer outside legal hunting hours, using lead ammunition to take wildlife, and possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, according to the same account.
Officers Track Down the Doe's Carcass
Wildlife officers returned to the area the following day to search for additional evidence and located the carcass of the doe, which they determined had been killed on private property, the report notes. CDFW said additional charges stemming from that discovery would be submitted to the Sutter County District Attorney's Office, though it remains unclear whether prosecutors have acted on that referral. In its post, the department framed the timing of the case around Halloween, writing that “Halloween night can be full of tricks and treats, but illegally taking wildlife is neither.”
Halloween night can be full of tricks and treats, but illegally taking wildlife is neither. — California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Facebook
Another Poaching Case Surfaced in Southern California
The Sutter County arrest follows a separate case over a month earlier in Angeles National Forest, where wildlife officers detained three people suspected of illegally killing two deer, as reported by KFI AM 640. Officers in that case found loaded firearms, spotlights within easy reach, and two freshly killed female deer that had been found headless and concealed in black trash bags — one skinned, the other quartered.
All three suspects in the Angeles National Forest case were arrested, cited and released, with officers seizing firearms, the deer carcasses and other evidence, the outlet reported. CDFW had said it received multiple reports of unlawful deer hunting and spotlighting in that forest throughout August, though the two incidents are separate cases and do not point to any broader statewide trend. The department has said its wildlife officers work year-round to protect California's natural resources and enforce the state's wildlife laws.
