A Confidential
Secret Witness Program

A tipster from Redding called the CalTIP hotline to report that a bald eagle had been shot and taken to a taxidermist for mounting. Bald eagles are fully protected animals that can not be taken or possessed without a special permit. Using the information from the caller, Wardens were able to make a case against the poacher and taxidermist. The poacher was sentenced to 30 days in jail with a fine of $10,000 and the taxidermist was fined $5000.

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In Tuolumne County a witness called CalTIP and reported that a subject had shot a deer out of season. The witness saw a deer lying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of it. When the witness drove back by the location, they observed a subject load the deer into a truck and drive off. The witness relayed the information to Game Wardens and described the truck.

With the information from the caller, Wardens were able to find the truck matching the description. The deer had a paralyzing injury to the spine from an arrow and another non-hunting style target type arrow lodged in the head. Wardens humanely dispatched the suffering animal which had been in the back of the truck in this condition for over an hour.

The subject said that he thought deer season was open so he shot the deer with his bow. He explained he only had three arrows with mechanical broad head tips and had missed the first two shots. The third hit the buck mid spine and paralyzed it. He then tried to use a target practice arrow to attempt to kill the deer. When that didn’t work, the subject loaded the injured deer into the back of his truck to take it to a butcher.

He was later found guilty of taking deer out of season and failing to immediately kill upon harvesting. He was sentenced to three years summary probation and fined $2,660. He is not allowed to hunt for three years and his bow, bow case and arrows were forfeited.

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On Thanksgiving Day at about 7:00 p.m. in Del Norte County a tipster called into the CalTIP hotline. They reported they heard several gunshots and saw suspicious lights in the field where elk were seen earlier. A Game Warden responded to the location about a half hour later, but did not observe any lights or suspicious activity in the field.

The following day, the same Warden received a call from a State Park and a National Park Ranger. They were out on a traffic stop and requested assistance for possible Fish and Game violations. The Warden arrived on the scene and found that the suspect they had stopped had a freshly killed elk carcass in the bed his truck. The suspect denied taking the elk and said that another relative had taken it.

While the suspect was taken to county jail for other violations, the Warden revised the area that was described from the CalTIP information. He found what appeared to be fresh elk meat and elk hair caught in a barbed wire fence. The Warden then walked the field in an effort to find more evidence. He eventually found an elk gut pile, two pairs of bloody rubber gloves, a small chunk of meat, several blood spots, and several high quality footprints.

The Warden retuned to the county jail and met with the National Park Ranger. They compared the photographs of the footprints taken at the crime scene with the shoes the subject had been wearing while he was arrested. A comparison of the subject’s shoe print was made with the prints from the crime scene. They were an exact match!

The subject admitted that he had lied earlier that day. He told the Warden that he had butchered the elk in the field the night before and carried it to his residence. The Warden seized the subject’s shoes as evidence and also sent samples of the elk meat and gut pile into the Wildlife Forensic Lab for DNA comparison. Because of such a thorough investigation, this suspect ended up pleading guilty to other violations.

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In Yolo County, a witness called into the CalTIP hotline and reported suspicious activity relating to a particular group of fisherman and a boat that frequented the Sacramento River. The witness believed the group to be targeting and poaching sturgeon.

From all of the information given to Wardens from the caller, a 2-month long investigation ensued. This investigation involved Game Wardens from the Department of Fish and Game’s DBEEP (Delta Bay Enhanced Enforcement Program) and SOU (Special Operations Unit) teams.

Night-time surveillances were conducted on the Sacramento River spanning Yolo, Colusa and Sacramento Counties. Wardens were able to watch as a group of men routinely used juvenile salmon as bait, took overlimits and over-sized sturgeon, gaffed sturgeon, and deposited large quantities of litter into the Sacramento River.

In Sacramento, the suspects were observed transporting the sturgeon to various residences, and were observed exchanging sturgeon and sturgeon roe for money. The intensive surveillance and investigation resulted in the charging of 7 Sacramento, Citrus Heights and Elk Grove men. The case culminated in 3 search warrants. Two vehicles and 2 boats were seized and 18 sturgeon were recovered.

The suspects plead guilty to the charges and fines varied from $1,100 to $19,480. They had all fishing gear forfeited, fishing licenses suspended and revoked for three years, and each were given three years of probation.