By Jeff DeLong, USA TODAY

Originally published on 1-27-2010

States' wildlife officers find abandoned carcasses after illegal hunters target animals large and small

Deer, elk and even raccoons have a new type of predator to worry about: poachers who kill increasingly for the thrill of it. Scott Talbott, an assistant division chief with Wyoming's Fish and Game Department, calls it "wanton destruction" that goes beyond shooting.

Poachers run down deer with cars or snowmobiles, and chase raccoons, then beat them to death with clubs. They also shoot deer, elk and antelope, sometimes removing valuable antlers but often leaving the carcass to rot on the ground, Talbott and other wildlife officials said. "It's thrill killing — people just going out and killing stuff," Talbott said. "We have seen a significant increase of that in Wyoming. It's disturbing. In Wisconsin, state wildlife officials are teaming with researchers from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to study the trend, which they said has emerged in recent years.

The thrill killing usually involves youths ages 14 to 23, who gather in groups with the intent of killing as many animals as possible, said Chuck Horn of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. "These are cases where they're just looking for something to do," Horn said. "It seems like in some of these cases kids are looking for instant gratification, like a video game."

Last April, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wardens apprehended a group of 15 youths, five of them juveniles, who were running down raccoons, muskrats and possums, then clubbing them to death with spiked clubs and baseball bats, Horn said. "Basically it was anything slow enough they could chase on foot," Horn said. "This group's sole intent was to do what they call 'coon bashing.' "

Randy Stark, head conservation warden in Wisconsin and president of the National Association of Conservation Law Enforcement Chiefs, said that a recent membership survey showed an increase in thrill killing of wildlife. "People are just shooting the game with no intention of using it," he said.

Elsewhere:

• Montana. Jim Kropp, law enforcement chief for the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, said elk and deer are being killed, their antlers removed and the carcasses left in fields. Kropp said poaching happens when hunting seasons are open or closed, and on public and private land.

• Pennsylvania. Richard Palmer, director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Wildlife Protection, cited a 2008 case in which a group of juveniles dazzled deer with spotlights at night, shooting 50 or more over a few weeks and leaving the dead animals on the ground. Four juveniles convicted for the incident were fined from $4,000 to $4,800, he said. The state game commission passed a law that adds a $5,000 restitution fee to normal penalties for trophy-class animals that are poached.

• Washington. Officials are proposing a new law that would make "spree killing" of wildlife a felony with large civil penalties, said Bruce Bjork, chief of law enforcement for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Bjork cited several instances last year in which people killed five to 15 animals at a time, leaving them to waste or using them to barter for drugs.

Stark said he's hopeful the upcoming study on thrill killing will shed light onto what causes such behavior. Rob Buonamici, chief game warden with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said understanding such crimes could prove difficult. "You have to wonder what was going through their heads when they pulled the trigger," he said.

DeLong reports for the Reno Gazette-Journal