Two Men Arrested for Illegal Deer Hunting

Two men were arrested for deer poaching activities in separate cases in Kent and Washington counties by Maryland Natural Resources Police officers.

A Warton man was charged Wednesday night with illegally killing a 17-point white-tailed deer on the second day of archery season.

Ronald Wayne Roe, 27, was criminally charged with trespassing on posted property and wanton entry on cultivated land. Additionally, he was charged under natural resources law with hunting on private land without written permission.

Roe is scheduled to appear in Kent County District Court Nov. 18 for a hearing.

Officers received a call Sept. 12 from a Worton resident  about a suspected case of illegal hunting involving a large buck. The officer located two piles of bait on property adjacent to land owned by Roe where he had a tree stand. The officer also found a blood trail leading from the bait to the spot where a buck had been field dressed.

Roe told police that he shot the deer on his property, but that it died on his neighbor’s property. However, witnesses called by Roe after he killed the deer contradicted that account, saying they helped drag the carcass to his property and then to his vehicle.

Officers seized the 17-point rack and the hide from a taxidermist.

A Hagerstown man was charged with jacklighting Oct. 17 by an officer conducting surveillance near Bottom Road in Williamsport.

Christopher Alan Clark, 22, used a spotlight to illuminate a field from his truck at about 10:45 p.m. When the officer stopped his vehicle, he found a compound bow and two arrows directly behind the driver’s seat and within Clark’s reach.

Clark was charged with hunting deer at night, casting rays (jacklighting) and deer hunting in a closed season. A juvenile in the vehicle received written warnings for the same three violations.

The officer seized the bow and arrows, the spotlight and an inoperable .22-caliber rifle he found in the trunk.

Clark is scheduled to appear in Washington County District Court Jan. 10. If found guilty of all charges, he could be fined as much as $2,950.