PHILADELPHIANS CITED FOR ILLEGAL KILL IN SULLIVAN COUNTY
Two Philadelphia men were charged with the unlawful taking of a deer and lending/borrowing of licenses this past deer season in Sullivan County, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) Rick Finnegan.
According to WCO Finnegan, Patrick Campion, 40, shot a doe and asked his friend, Mike Schauffele, to tag it because he didn’t have an antlerless deer license tag. After pleading guilty, Campion was ordered to pay more than $1,200 in fines and court costs and will likely lose his hunting privileges for two years.
By agreeing to use his tag for a deer he didn’t lawfully harvest, Schauffele became involved and was fined $200.
“This deer was believed to have been shot from a cabin the two were renting in Eagles Mere with other family members,” WCO Finnegan said. “There was bait all around this area, and clear drag marks from the gut pile to their cabin, but none of the cabin members would admit to what had happened.
“Evidence was collected and with the help of Philadelphia County WCO Jerrold Czech, who collected written statements made during interviews with both violators.”
Several concerned citizens from Eagles Mere put Finnegan on the trail of this case, which would have gone unknown without their stepping forward and calling.
“The disturbing thing about this is that Campion shot a doe knowing that he didn’t have a doe tag, and then got his friend Schauffele involved by using his tag, and then took the deer home to give it away to someone else,” Finnegan said. “Why would someone go through all of this trouble to kill a deer that he didn’t even want?”
