![[Special to the Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-60dcafb8-7b01-034d-e053-0100007f1c8b-29325195-scaled.jpeg)
MILTON — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filed these cases between Dec. 8 and 14 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties:
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Allgood worked fisheries enforcement in the Pensacola Bay area and identified several individuals in violation. He issued notice-to-appear citations for possession of red snapper in a closed season and possession of undersized scamp and mangrove snapper. Allgood also documented license and boating safety violations.
Officer Allgood entered a hunt camp and noticed the remains of a doe deer hanging on a skinning rack. The deer had been cleaned and appeared to be antlerless. Antlerless deer season is not open and, to take an antlerless deer legally, the animal must be tagged before moving it from the field. When the two hunters noticed Allgood, they attempted to tag the antlerless deer. The deer was killed several hours prior and had not been tagged. Allgood issued a citation for failing to tag an antlerless deer.
FEDERAL WATERS
Officers Cushing, Land and Wilkenson were on water patrol in federal waters aboard the offshore patrol vessel NW Fincat. While patrolling approximately 30 miles south of Perdido Key in the Gulf of Mexico, they approached a large charter vessel and observed items being thrown overboard.
Once they were onboard, Land and Wilkenson discovered several violations inside the cooking grill on deck and in the freezer. Land found cooked gray triggerfish fillets (during the closed season) and red snapper fillets inside the grill. The officers also discovered a gray triggerfish in whole condition in a catch basket on deck as well as two 1-gallon bags of fresh red snapper fillets (not frozen) in the freezer.
In addition, the captain did not possess a current federal charter permit.
Land issued a federal citation for the violations.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Lewis located a food plot that had been planted on Blackwater River State Forest adjacent to a section of private property. When asked, a man hunting near the food plot admitted to planting it.
The subject received multiple citations for planting the food plot on the management area.
•••
Officer Lewis observed a pickup truck on the side of the road that appeared to be disabled and stopped to assist.
While talking to the occupants, the officer learned that one of them had killed a doe deer, which was in a cooler in the bed of the truck.
Stories differed regarding the location where the deer was killed, and the shooter could not remember where it was taken. The subject who killed the deer claimed he killed it in Alabama but had not checked it in as required by Alabama regulations.
Lewis contacted an Alabama game warden, and met him at the state line. The suspect showed officers the deer carcass in Alabama, but claimed that he could not remember where it was taken.
The Alabama officer charged the subject for not filling out his harvest report.
•••
Officer Land was on the Escambia River when he observed three subjects on a boat heading under power toward a flock of coots. When the boat flushed the coots, one of the hunters fired at them before the boat stopped moving.
Land contacted Lieutenant Hahr, who located the hunters as they were leaving a nearby boat ramp. The subjects admitted to trying to shoot the coots from the moving boat.
Upon inspection, officers found that the subject observed shooting was using lead shot and a shotgun capable of holding more than three shells.
The one subject received a citation for attempting to take waterfowl from a vessel under power and with lead shot.
•••
Lieutenant Berryman was patrolling the Escribano Point Wildlife Management Area when he encountered four individuals camping at the Bayou Campground.
While speaking with these individuals, he learned that they did not possess a camping permit for the campground and observed several beer cans that had been discarded on the ground and open containers of beer within their vehicles.
Additionally, it was found that none of the four individuals possessed a valid driver’s license and that one vehicle’s registration tag expired and was court-ordered to be seized.
All four subjects appeared to be nervous and were acting suspiciously.
Land arrived to assist and requested a K-9 unit from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s deputy arrived and worked his police canine around the vehicles and the subjects’ tent that had been set up in a non-designated camping area.
The canine showed a positive alert on both vehicles and the tent for narcotics.
A search of both vehicles revealed marijuana, methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia.
Land arrested the owners of both vehicles and the tent and transported them to county jail. Both vehicles were towed and the tent was seized for safekeeping until a search warrant could be obtained.
The other two individuals received a ride to a local motel.
•••
Officers responded to a distress call from three hunters who swamped their boat while preparing to duck hunt in Escambia Bay.
The three young hunters ran out of gas about 4 miles from the boat ramp and drifted away from the shoreline. They had a friend bring them gas, but they were unable to start the motor once they filled the tank.
By this time, they had drifted out into the bay and strong north winds had created a stiff chop.
They attempted to anchor the boat using a heavy lead anchor, but improperly tied the rope off to the stern. The boat quickly took on water and swamped.
The three young adults donned their life jackets and began to swim to shore in the freezing air temperature. One of them had a waterproof case on his phone and called 911 while swimming.
Avalon Fire Rescue located the hunters and pulled them from the water. Officers located the boat and recovered it along with the hunters’ shotguns and most of their belongings.
The hunters were treated at the hospital for hypothermia and released.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Tagging antlerless deer, planting a food plot among FWC incidents