A hunter accused of bagging a potentially record-breaking buck is facing multiple charges in Florida, with the local Sheriff saying he violated not only the law, but also the spirit of a true huntsman.
The 23-point buck (a male deer with 23 points on its antlers) was found dead on state land, shot by a poacher in the middle of the night after being startled with a flashlight, according to Martin County Sheriff’s office.
The white-tail deer herd is half-tame, say local deputies, who had taken a picture with the very same animal just the night before.
“First of all, we don’t know he has a hunting license, second of all he can’t hunt at night with a spotlight and third of all you can’t trespass to hunt.”
‘They Almost Appear as Pets’
He is likely to face additional state charges.Many of the deputies are avid sportsmen and keep close tabs on the local whitetail deer herd, according to the Sheriff’s office.
“For anybody who has any care for white-tailed (deer) hunting or any passion for it, the idea here is to honor the deer as much as we can and it’s disgusting that somebody would go out there and take a deer this way.”
Kryda had noticed a dark truck parked in a wooded area near a construction site off of Citrus Boulevard.
A High Caliber Rifle
Another deputy pulled Palacio’s truck over a short while later as he tried to leave the area. In the meantime, a large deer carcass was spotted at the location Palacio had been seen with his flashlight.“Deputies determined that the buck was recently shot by what appeared to be a high-caliber rifle,” according to the statement.
Deputies searched the truck. They found a bow, arrows, spotlight, and a single spent shell casing from a .30-06 caliber rifle, but no rifle.
A short while later they found a .30-06 rifle in the area where Palacio had first been spotted.
“This is an unusually large deer,” said Snyder. “As a matter of fact, when somebody texted me the picture of the deer, at first I thought they were playing a joke because I didn’t think there were deer that size in Florida.”
Florida’s whitetail deer population was estimated at around 700,000 in 2015.