State environmental conservation officers recently busted some allegedly illegal hunters in the southern Adirondacks, with one hunter leaving a bloody path straight to his door.

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Fulton County

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On Saturday, Nov. 17, ECOs Paul Pasciak and Shane Manns received a tip about two bucks hanging behind a home in Northville. The ECOs went to the home and found two men butchering the deer. One of the men said the tags for the deer were inside the house and went to find them.

While that man was inside, the ECOs questioned the second man. The first subject was unable to locate the tags, and the two men’s stories conflicted. After being confronted with the conflicting reports, the first man admitted to shooting both deer. The ECOs issued five tickets and seized a six-point buck, which was given to the venison donation program.

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Saratoga County

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ECOs Robert Higgins and Steve Shaw were on patrol on Saturday, Nov. 17, when they noticed all-terrain vehicle tracks and blood trails on posted property. The ECOs knew that no one had been given permission to hunt on the land, and with a fresh coating of snow the night before, they followed the blood trail to discover evidence of two deer being shot.

The ECOs followed the tracks to a nearby house, where the owner admitted to having two deer hanging in a shed. One of the deer had a tag that belonged to the man’s father, and after a brief interview, the man admitted to shooting both deer on the posted land, as well as shooting a third deer he couldn’t locate.

The man was issued tickets for trespassing, possessing hunting tags of another, failure to properly tag a deer, and taking deer except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law. As the ECOs left the residence, the man said, “I never thought I would be reading about myself in those conservation law publications.”