An Iowa man and two men from Minnesota have pleaded guilty to multiple hunting violations involving deer.

Conservation officer Virginia Schulte says the charges stem from an investigation that started in Emmet and Kossuth counties back in 2015 after they got a call from the landlord of one of the men.

She says they got a call of deer hanging at a residence in Ledyard and the owners of the property were trying to figure out how to properly dispose of the deer. Twenty-year-old Seth Norland of Ledyard, 45-year-old Michael Paschke of Worthington Minnesota and 21-year-old Dakota Isebrand of Sherburn, Minnesota pleaded guilty to 58 wildlife violations after investigators determined the did not have licenses to hunt deer. Schulte says they found deer and deer parts at the residence.

She says “to know the total extent of how many deer were involved, we don’t know that.” She says the men used illegal hunting methods.

“They would drive around at night and if they would see deer, they would attempt to shoot them,” Schulte says. The charges included illegally taking deer, abandonment of wildlife, hunting by artificial light, having no deer license or tag and illegal possession of deer.

The three men were given fines and court costs in Kossuth County that totaled $11,538 dollars and a $25,000 civil penalty. The also were fined and assessed court costs of $1,530 dollars in Emmet County and were given a $10,000 civil penalty. Each man also lost his hunting privileges for 25 years; three years from the DNR for being a multiple offender and 22 years by court ordered suspension.

This Iowa suspension also prohibits them from hunting in any of the 44 states that are members of the Wildlife Violator Compact.