Two southeast Iowa men are accused of killing deer without licenses.
Iowa DNR Conservation Officer Lucas Dever says the investigation was launched in January when people started reporting deer that had been shot and left to rot.
“There was a bunch of deer showing up dead with either heads missing, antlers cut off, or just shot and left lay,” Dever said. More tips from the public led to search warrants of homes and charges were filed against 30-year-old Ryan Greiner of Morning Sun and 19-year-old Treyton Hartman of Yarmouth.
Greiner is facing the most serious penalties for killing 18 deer. “He was just charged with 18 different deer that we could prove,” Dever said. “There were more deer killed, but these were the ones we felt confident we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt.” The deer had been shot with rifles.
In addition to the various illegal hunting charges, Greiner was charged with possession of meth, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Dever said the charges against Greiner have a total possible fine of $7,503 as well as liquidated damages of $67,000 for the 18 deer.