Pennsylvania’s
worst poacher

By CONNIE MERTZ

Unfortunately, there are many slob hunters who never get caught. Some of these are pros at the illegal taking of game; many hunt at night, shooting from a vehicle. And unless landowners are lucky, they can’t gather enough evidence for a conviction, hard as they may try.

Poachers who disobey game laws rob those who want to hunt legally and ethically. Several years ago, we were keeping our eyes on a buck that took residence on our farm. This was the first year of hunting for our then 12-year-old daughter, and we kept telling her, “This buck is yours.”

She entered the season so excited, but the first day, no antlered deer was seen. The second day, we heard a rifle shot, and sure enough, a road hunter had shot the eight-pointer. He had the deer loaded and vanished in what seemed like a few minutes. No vehicle license number or identification was possible.

Heather never saw a buck that year.

This behavior is exhibited more often than we like to admit. That is why I was absolutely thrilled when the game commission apprehended one outlaw in Fulton County.

Michael Lake, only 38 years old, was arrested on 90 counts of violating the Game and Wildlife Code. What he has done is unbelievable, but he convicted himself. He kept records of his illegal kills in a notebook, and when his home was searched, it was all there.

All told, he had 42 sets of deer antlers, and he recorded 131 antlerless deer, 122 antlered, and 82 turkeys.

The sad part of all this is that he started his illegal hunting practices when he was only 16! A lot of questions surface, but no one can answer them, except his family and friends.

“In a span of 22 years, Lake documented his illegal killing of more animals than he could have legally taken in several lifetimes,” WCO Travis Pugh said. “Mr. Lake has the distinction of being one of the most destructive poachers ever encountered by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.”

The last straw for Lake came when concerned citizens contacted the Commission on his taking of a ten-point trophy-class deer before season at night. When the hearing was held, it is said, the courtroom was packed with locals who wanted to see justice reign.

And justice was served. Lake has lost all privileges to hunt for the rest of his life—or 88 years—and he was also fined almost $30,000.

Yet no amount of punishment can replace the fantastic hunting experiences other hunters missed because of Lake. Whoever would have rightfully harvested that trophy deer would have had the hunt of a lifetime. Multiply that experience by the number of illegal kills Lake committed in 22 years, and understand that hundreds of hunters were robbed of a wonderful hunting adventure.

On the positive side, it is now easier to convict the guilty. “A decade ago, few people would have figured that forensic evidence and computer record analysis would be part of Game and Wildlife Code investigations,” Southcentral Region Information and Education Supervisor Don Garner said. “Today, Game Commission WCOs are trained to use the latest technologies in their efforts to apprehend those who commit wildlife crimes. In other cases, Game Commission WCOs lift fingerprints, do time-of-death studies, conduct insect analysis on carcasses and undergo constant upgrade training.”

This good news should serve as a warning to poachers who continue their antics. It also proves that it is important to pay attention to detail, and our input helps stop illegal actions in areas we hunt. I always take a pocket-size notebook in my hunting coat and pay attention to any questionable incident. It’s easy to jot down the color of a vehicle, and better yet to get a license plate number, but I never put myself in harm’s way. I let that up to my wildlife conservation officer.