WOW! Say it is not true? An Illinois Conservation Police investigation into the Wired Arrow Outdoors television show has resulted in the company’s owners, pro-staff members and guests being charged with 134 wildlife violations, including the taking of 18 deer illegally in Illinois. After viewing videos of hunts that aired on the Sportsman Channel or were uploaded to www.YouTube.com, Conservation Police determined that hunting and filming were conducted on properties in the Chicago region without permission from landowners making hunting permits invalid. Hunting and filming allegedly took place on properties owned by several private companies, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and the Village of Lansing.
During the investigation, it was determined the pro-staff members had unlawfully harvested a total of 18 white-tailed deer, including 10 bucks and eight does, nearly all of which were aired either on the Sportsman Channel or the Pursuit Channel. On Sept. 16, 2014, a joint operation involving several state and federal agencies was conducted to interview all pro-staff members who had previously hunted in Illinois. Cooperating agencies included the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Seized during the joint operation were eight unlawfully-taken white-tailed deer heads, one set of antlers attached to a skullcap, and one unlawfully-taken turkey fan, beard, and spurs. Charges include violations documented from the 2012 and 2013 deer seasons.
“The Illinois Conservation Police will aggressively investigate whenever someone violates hunting laws, violates another’s private property rights, or otherwise tries to exploit Illinois’ natural resources at the expense of law-abiding hunters,” said Rafael Gutierrez, Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Chief of Law Enforcement.
“Hunting is a great privilege to be cherished and respected,” said IDNR Director Marc Miller. “Those who violate laws intended to protect Illinois’ wildlife resources and take game illegally will face the full consequences of the law.” 1411**14
The names of those charged and a list of violations follows:
David T. Brugger – Co-owner of Wired Arrow – 7 Counts of Hunting without Permission, 7 Counts Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 7 Counts of Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 1 Count Unlawful Attempt to Take Whitetail Deer, 2 Counts Failure to Report Harvest by 10:00 PM, 1 Count Unlawful Possession of Unlawfully Taken Whitetail Deer or Parts Thereof, 6 Counts Accessory Hunting Without Permission, 6 Counts Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 5 Counts Accessory To the Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (42)
Jessica E. Stoner – Pro-Staff – 1 Count Hunting without a License, 1 Count Hunting without a Habitat Stamp, 1 Count Hunting without Permission, 2 Counts Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 1 Count Unlawful Attempt to Take Whitetail Deer, 1 Count Accessory Hunting without Permission, 1 Count Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Accessory Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (10)
Ryan T. Ederer – Co-Owner of Wired Arrow – 6 Counts Hunting without Permission, 6 Counts Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 4 Counts Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 2 Counts Failure to Report Harvest by 10:00 PM, 2 Counts Hunting without a Habitat Stamp, 6 Counts Accessory Hunting without Permission, 6 Counts Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 7 Counts Accessory Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (39) Pending Falsification charges through the Attorney General’s Office.
Nathan C. Fahndrich – Pro-Staff – 3 Counts Hunting without Permission, 3 Counts Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 2 Counts Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 2 Counts Hunting without a Habitat Stamp, 4 Counts Accessory Hunting without Permission, 4 Counts Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 2 Counts Accessory Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 1 Count Accessory Unlawful Attempt to Take Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (21)
Joseph M. Cater – Pro-Staff – 1 Count Hunting Without Permission, 1 Count Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 1 Count Accessory Hunting Without Permission, 1 Count Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Accessory Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (6)
Wade R. Childs – Pro-Staff – 2 Counts Accessory Hunting Without Permission, 2 Counts Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 2 Counts Accessory Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (6)
Jeremy F. Howard – Pro-Staff – 1 Count Hunting Without Permission, 1 Count Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer, 1 Count Hunting without a Habitat Stamp. Total Violations (4)
Michael W. Porter – Guest – 1 Count Hunting without Permission, 1 Count Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (3)
Susan J. Porter – Guest – 1 Count Accessory to Hunting without Permission, 1 Count Accessory Hunting with Invalid Archery Deer Permits, 1 Count Accessory Unlawful Take of Whitetail Deer. Total Violations (3)
Deer Seized as a result of this investigation:
(1) 10 Point Whitetail Buck shoulder mount (Porter)
(1) 10 Point Whitetail Buck head frozen (Howard)
(1) 8 Point Whitetail Buck shoulder mount (Cater)
(1) 10 Point Whitetail Buck shoulder mount (Fahndrich)
(1) 8 Point Whitetail Buck shoulder mount (Ederer)
(1) 12 Point Gross Boone and Crockett Whitetail Buck shoulder mount (Ederer)
(1) 8 Point Whitetail Antler Scull Plate (Brugger)
(1) 11 Point Whitetail Buck should mount (Brugger)
(1) 8 Point Whitetail Buck shoulder mount (Brugger)
(1) Turkey Fan, Beard, and Spurs (Brugger)
Assisting Agencies include the Michigan DNR, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Union Pacific Railroad Police, Cook County Forest Preserve Police, and the Lansing Police Department.
WA response to these counts from their Facebook Page: Above all, Wired Arrow would first like to make clear that while we are being charged by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, these accusations have not gone in front of a judge and/or jury. Whatever evidence that the IDNR has that led them to believe we are guiltily has yet to be shared with Wired Arrow. However, WA has provided numerous records that gave us the impression that we had a legal right to hunt each piece of property that we accessed.
A lead investigator of the IDNR agreed that we acted in good faith, and were not aware of any wrong-doing at the time. He admitted that the majority of these charges were brought upon WA to please his higher ups. These charges came about after the IDNR spent months investigating Wired Arrow. A lead investigator admitted that these charges were “over the top” and agreed that the majority of these would not hold up in court.
We ask that you not jump to any conclusions until these charges go through proper legal proceedings. We can assure you that we truly believed we had the right to be hunting where we were, and are confident that we can prove this in a court of law.