The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says a lengthy investigation led to the arrest of six men from Arkansas last month on deer poaching charges. D-N-R conservation officer Matt Rush says they began investigating the men last year.Surveillance began last February after an anonymous call to the “Turn in Poachers” or “TIP” line. Rush says the men went as far as registering a vehicle in Iowa and getting an Iowa driver’s license to try and make it look like they lived in the state. He says officers caught the men hunting bucks with a doe license, and taking just the head and skin from three deer. Poachers often kill large bucks to sell the animal’s trophy antlers. Rush says that wasn’t the case here.He says these men were just looking for personal trophies. Rush says this is a typical poaching case.Deer are mating this time of year, which makes the bucks susceptible to poachers. Rush and several other law officers in Iowa and other states joined to track down and arrest the men. The men pled guilty to 19 hunting violations and were released after appearing in court. The fines and equipment seized in the arrest totaled 18-thousand dollars.
