Five men found guilty in one of New Hampshire’s largest poaching rings, officials say
Five men were found guilty of several poaching charges in New Hampshire after an investigation revealed one of the largest poaching rings in the state’s recent history, officials said.
Wildlife officers with the state Fish and Game Department received a tip about illegal hunting operations in the town of Gilmanton in Dec. 2022, according to an Oct. 24 news release.
Conservation officers and Gilmanton police officers searched one of the 33-year-old suspect’s cellphones and found “evidence of illegal hunting activity” that implicated the hunter and several other people involved in the poaching ring, officials said in the release.
The officers partnered with another police agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials and conducted search warrants in three towns. Agents confiscated “multiple firearms with video recording scopes and infrared lights attached, archery equipment, electronic devices, wildlife pelts, and mounts.”
The search also led to law enforcement identifying another two men implicated in the poaching ring, officials said.
Officers arrested the men on several wildlife violations, including illegal night hunting, hunting under suspension, illegal baiting of wildlife and black bears and illegal possession of deer, officials said.
Four of them pleaded guilty to their charges while one in Massachusetts was found guilty by a jury, officials said. The men were fined and lost their hunting privileges for between one and 10 years.
All five men were entered into the Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact, which “creates reciprocity among member states for purposes of hunting, fishing, and trapping license suspensions,” meaning the men “will be suspended in all 50 states for the equal type and time period as their New Hampshire suspensions,” officials said. “Federal investigations are ongoing and charges are still pending.”
The investigation led to more suspects in other states as well, officials said.
Gilmanton is about a 20-mile drive northeast from Concord.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Five men found guilty in one of New Hampshire’s largest poaching rings, officials say."
