State Department of Environmental Conservation Officers [ECOs] seized an illegal alligator in Wayne County and nailed a timber thief in Sullivan County in the last couple of weeks, as well as busting an illegal hunter near the western Adirondacks.

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Herkimer County

On Jan. 2, ECO Jeff Hull got an anonymous tip that a local venison processor had illegal deer stored in his garage. Upon investigation, Hull found two properly tagged does hanging, along with an untagged doe on the floor of the garage. When asked, the processor provided the either-sex muzzleloading tag he was given along with the deer on Dec. 19. ECO Hull found the tag was not filled out, but that it belonged to a 70-year-old man.

Using just a phone number, ECO Hull tracked down the owner of the tag and conducted an interview. After interviewing others involved with the case, Hull sorted through several conflicting and fabricated stories. After confronting some of those involved with the case, two of the men admitted to Hull what had happened.

One hunter was charged with hunting without a license, possessing tags of another, failure to tag deer as required, failure to report harvest, and illegal take of protected wildlife.