A family feud between two hunters in Michigan culminated in a man admitting to a conservation officer that he sprayed deer repellent on his brother’s hunting stands.
The unusual dispute came to light when Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Mike Wells received a complaint about hunter harassment in Newaygo County only to discover it was one brother reporting the other, according to MLive.com.
The complainant has two hunting stands that sit on U.S. Forest Service property, which is located next to a private camp that was willed to both brothers by their father. The other brother hunts from a blind on the private property.
The complainant told Wells he was “extremely frustrated” by his brother’s continued harassment while on the private property. He proceeded to give Wells two SD Cards from trail cameras that showed a subject wearing a yellow backpack sprayer spraying the two hunting stands on Forest Service land.
Wells accompanied the complainant to the stands and collected evidence samples of the unknown liquid.
Then, on the morning of the firearm season, Wells approached the suspected brother as he hunted from the blind on private property and discovered he was illegally hunting over bait.
Wells confronted the suspect and showed him a photo from the trail camera, at which point he confessed to spraying both stands because his brother was intentionally cutting off the deer by hunting the public land next to the private camp.
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He also admitted that the spray was “liquid fence,” designed to deter deer from entering the area and that he did it to scare deer away. He apologized and told Wells his emotions got the best of him.
Wells submitted a warrant request for hunter harassment and baiting deer when prohibited.
According to Michigan law, unlawful baiting deer is a misdemeanor offense that carries a penalty of a maximum of 90 days in jail, a fine between $50 and $500, court costs and state fees, and loss of hunting privileges at the court’s discretion.
Hunter harassment is also a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 93 days and/or a fine of between $500 and $1,000 plus court costs.
“I suppose this means the gift exchange is cancelled for them this Christmas,” one commenter on MLive.com quipped.
Photo of a deer courtesy of USFWS. Photo of a typical deer stand in Michigan courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.