Dead fox found in truck near deer’s body, sparking poaching investigation, cops say
Two men were arrested on poaching charges after police discovered a dead gray fox and dead deer during a traffic stop, Massachusetts police said.
On Dec. 2 just after 6 p.m., Massachusetts State Troopers and Massachusetts Environmental Police responded to a report that a deer was fatally shot in front of a Colrain home by someone inside a pickup truck, police said in a Dec. 5 news release.
Over the last two years, police have received several reports of poaching in the same area by offenders in a gray Toyota Tacoma, police said.
An investigation of the suspected vehicle involved in the Dec. 2 incident — a gray Toyota Tacoma — revealed multiple unsecured firearms including “a loaded .22 caliber rifle, another rifle, two shotguns, a loaded handgun, four muzzleloaders and four thermal scopes for seeing targets at night,” police said.
An examination of the deer revealed .22 caliber rifle slugs in its head and body, police said.
Police also reported finding a dead gray fox with “apparent blunt trauma to its head” inside the truck, according to police.
Fox hunting is prohibited during the shotgun deer season, which runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9 in Massachusetts.
The occupants of the pickup truck, two brothers from Colrain, were arrested on accusations of poaching and charged with numerous firearm offenses and hunting violations, including:
Hunting from a vehicle
Carrying a loaded shotgun/rifle in a vehicle
Hunting deer with a rifle
Discharging a firearm near a highway
Improper storage of a firearm
Hunting at night
Hunting out of season (fox)
Officials are investigating whether either men are responsible for past poaching incidents, police said.
The suspects will have their Firearm Identification Cards revoked and may have hunting all hunting rights revoked.
Colrain is about 90 miles northwest of Boston.
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