Snowmobilers run over five deer near Waupaca
Appleton Post Crescent • January 12, 2009
WAUPACA — A group of snowmobilers in central Wisconsin herded and killed four deer and severely injured a fifth in what a warden called a senseless act of cruelty today.
No arrests have been made in the Saturday morning incident about five miles south of Waupaca, said Ted Dremel, a state Department of Natural Resources warden.
There’s talk of closing all snowmobile trails in Waupaca County until the "rogue snowmobilers" are caught, he said.
"It is senseless. I don’t know how else to describe it," Dremel said. "It is probably something they thought was fun or humorous at the time. They did purposely run over these deer. The tracks in the snow were in a circular manner, almost looking like they were chasing the deer back to other snowmobile partners."
Randy Yorkson, who farms the land, said people cannot believe what happened.
"I am going to guess it is somebody who left a bar. They probably had been using that trail before, knowing the deer were out there," he said. "This is just some yahoos who don’t have any common sense."
Landowner Virginia Niemuth, 80, immediately shut off access to her property, closing five miles of the main snowmobile trail across Waupaca County.
"There’s sick people out there," Niemuth said. "I used to love to snowmobile, but this is too much."
Dremel believes three or four snowmobiles were involved in a roundup of deer in a moonlit alfalfa field where 30 to 40 animals were known to feed. Witnesses reported hearing snowmobiles in the area about 3:30 a.m., he said.
Three deer were found dead in the field. A snowmobile stopped atop one and ripped open its stomach, Dremel said. A fourth deer with broken legs was euthanized.
The fifth deer was dragged from the field and tied to a tree about 25 feet from a road. Investigators think someone may have planned to return for that deer, Dremel said.
"It looked like the deer wrapped itself around the tree and choked itself to death," he said.
Dremel said he has never heard of this kind of "cowboy-style" attack on deer with snowmobiles.
"Usually, it is an accident — a deer standing in a trail and a snowmobiler can’t avoid it," he said.
The dead deer included two bucks and three does. One was a fawn.
Investigators have no suspects. Some snowmobile clubs have offered $4,000 in rewards for information leading to arrests, Dremel said. Information can be phoned into the DNR’s tip line at 1-800-TIP-WDNR.
"This is not characteristic of the snowmobile community in Wisconsin," DNR Chief Warden Randy Stark said in Madison. "Obviously, we are looking to get any public assistance we can in identifying who is responsible for this."
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Reward grows for information about torture, killing of deer near Waupaca
Investigators collect clues to find culprits
By John Lee • Post-Crescent staff writer • January 14, 2009
WAUPACA — The hunt for the snowmobilers responsible for the slaughter of five deer intensified Tuesday as reward money for their capture poured in and investigators sent snowmobile parts found near the scene for lab testing.
The killings have sparked outrage by animal lovers and snowmobilers alike, and a collection of reward funds for information or the conviction of those responsible has swelled to more than $10,000 and still is growing.
Capt. Don Conat of the Waupaca County Sheriff's Department said investigators hope snowmobile parts recovered from near the scene will yield fingerprints and information about the make and model of at least one of the sleds involved.
The deer were found dead Saturday, apparently run down by a group of three or four snowmobilers who herded the animals from an alfalfa field five miles south of Waupaca where a herd of 30 to 40 are known to feed.
Three deer were found dead in the field. A snowmobile stopped atop one and ripped open its stomach, said Ted Dremel, a state Department of Natural Resources warden based in Waupaca County. A fourth deer with broken legs was euthanized. The fifth deer was dragged from the field and tied to a tree about 25 feet from a road. Investigators think someone may have planned to return for that deer, Dremel said.
The dead deer were two bucks and three does. One was a fawn.
As the investigation continues, the timeline for the killings has changed. Originally, authorities thought it happened about 3:30 a.m. because reports from neighbors that they had heard snowmobiles about that time.
Now, however, Conat said other snowmobilers on the nearby trail reported seeing one of the deer lying along the trail south of Denmark Road when they passed through the area at 9:30 p.m. Friday. The steam from the deer's breath was visible then to the snowmobilers.
"It looked out of breath," he said.
Conat said people shouldn't assume the snowmobilers who killed the deer are local. "It's hard to say because people can put on 80 or 100 miles a day on a snowmobile so I guess we can't really restrict ourselves to where," he said.
People statewide, particularly snowmobilers, have expressed their dismay and anger over the killings, which led the property owner to close a key five-mile stretch of the trail in Waupaca County.
Bob Springer, president of the Waupaca County Snowmobile Association, said he has received $9,000 in donations so far, and people with information may also be eligible for up to $1,000 in rewards from the Waupaca County Crime Stoppers.
The Fox Valley Humane Association is offering a $500 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible and the Waupaca County Line Trailblazers Snowmobile Club also has set up a reward fund.
David Peterson, sheriff of adjacent Waushara County, said his county's Crime Stoppers also is seeking tips and offering a reward.
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