Father and Son Investigated for Poaching Massive World-class Buck
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.09.16
You may have seen the upsetting story of the massive buck poached in January just outside of Shiocton, Wisconsin. Now justice maybe be served to the poachers responsible.
The Wisconsin DNR has been investigating the case since then, and now there are charges pending against Edwin Singler, 53, from Shiocton and his son, Ryan Singler, 25.
Edwin and Ryan Singler were hunting coyotes north of Shiocton on January 22 when the incident occurred. According to court documents from the Outagamie County Circuit Court, the witnesses “observed the hunting dogs chase at least 20 deer north towards Edwin Singler’s truck and observed the large buck with the group.” At some point the other members of the group heard two gun shots coming from the direction of the Singlers. Edwin Singler then radioed the rest of the group to inform them that he had just shot a “fox and crow.” Edwin Singler told the other members of the hunting party that they did not need any help recovering their “small game harvest” and he then “directed the group to stop hunting for the day.”
Later that afternoon a witness photographed the dead buck near the location where the Singler’s had parked their truck. The next day the DNR investigated the report of a dead buck and found the deer decapitated with a “a single set of footprints leading from the deer.” The DNR also found a “nickel-plated .223 round, with REM FC12 stamped on the end with a blue primer sealer” located right next to the tracks from the truck. Ultimately, this round is what lead investigators to the Singlers because they were the only ones in the group carrying a .223 rifle that day.
Both the father and son are also currently under investigation for poaching a Nevada elk last fall. Hopefully the justice served in this case will act as a deterrent to future poachers.
You can watch a video of the report below.
