Sartoga County Boat Launches Littered with Dozens of Dead Deer

I can't even begin to tell you how sad and disgusted this is making me right now.

To be honest when I first moved to the east cost I wasn't exactly thrilled with the whole hunting for sport thing. However, as I became aware of the over population of some animals and got to know more an more hunters and learned that it is about having some form of survival skills and that most hunters are actually eating the meat they hunt the less uncomfortable I got with the situation.

Then you hear reports like the one from News10 today where a sportsman who was scouting fishing spots discovered somewhere around 20 deer carcasses scattered around the Nolan Road Boat Launch and the Roger’s Island Pool Boat Launch in Sartoga County. According to the report the first time it was just a couple and then when he returned a few weeks later he found 12 more some that were even in trash bags.

At first I thought maybe it was because they were mostly young does and bucks and maybe you weren't allowed to hunt them so instead of taking them to a butcher the culprit dumped them. But apparently it’s legal to take young bucks, and if you have a special permit, does as well.

It is as almost as if the person or persons responsible were killing just to kill. Even if you aren't going to eat the meat yourself you can still donate it. There are plenty of people in the Capital Region that go hungry every day that could use that meat to sustain.

The NYS DEC is aware of the situation and is investigating but seeing as though the regular deer season ended Sunday it might be tough to catch the culprit unless they are taking part in muzzleloader season which began on Monday.

The whole situation is definetly illegal and at the very least is considered improper disposal of the animals. The Department of Environmental Conservation is asking for the public’s help. If you know anything about this case you’re asked to give them a call.