Michigan Hunter Sabotages Rival Brother's Efforts by Spraying Stands with Deer Repellent
A conservation officer in Newaygo County, Michigan, received a hunter harassment complaint last month from a man who claimed his brother was sabotaging him by spraying deer repellent on his hunting stands.
The Michigan Department Natural Resources said Conservation Officer Mike Wells met with the brother who made the complaint.
The brother gave him two SD cards from trail cameras that revealed a person carrying a yellow backpack sprayer; the person was photographed spraying two hunting stands with an unknown substance.
The man making the complaint told Wells that the man in the images was his brother and that the stands were on U.S. Forest Service land.
The USFS land neighbors a private camp that both brothers co-inherited from their father.
The DNR report said the “complainant was extremely frustrated” because his brother would harass him any time he was on the property.
Wells followed up on the complaint by investigating the two hunting stands, where he discovered “signs of dried white droplets,” the report said.
The conservation officer then collected evidence in order to identify the liquid.
Wells approached the man’s brother “on the morning of the firearm deer season,” the report said, while the brother was on the private camp.
The report said Wells discovered that the “suspect brother” was “illegally hunting over bait.”
The officer showed the brother the photographs from the trail cameras and interviewed him regarding the matter.
“The suspect brother immediately admitted that he had sprayed both blinds because his brother was intentionally cutting off the deer by hunting the public land next to the camp,” the report said.
When Wells inquired about the substance sprayed on the stands, the brother informed him that is was “liquid fence,” which is a deer repellent.
“When CO Wells asked the subject why he sprayed the blinds, he readily admitted it was to scare the deer away,” the report added.
The brother did apologize, and according to the DNR, said he allowed his emotions “get the best of him.”
A warrant request was submitted for baiting deer when prohibited and hunter harassment.
Citing Michigan law, USA Today reported that unlawfully baiting a 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 a misdemeanor as well, “punishable by imprisonment for up to 93 days and/or a fine of between $500 and $1,000 plus court costs,” the outlet said.
The Western Journal has reached out to the DNR for comment, but has not yet received a response.
We will update this article if and when we do.
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