?Officers Hammond and Schlappi told the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin this week that they apprehended the killer of Freetos ?through an anonymous tip.?
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As this year?s deer season approached, many DCD workers were certain Freetos would meet his demise. All during the archery, muzzle loader and rifle hunt, (Freetos) teased many a hunter who knew that he had the habit of going off (DCD property) in an adjacent alfalfa field,? duckdog1 wrote. ?But no one was ever able to catch him. So, as the seasons ended, we took a sigh of relief and set back to watching him ...?
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Tooele County is a large area to patrol,? Hammond said. ?It's impossible for one or two wildlife officers to be everywhere. While most people don't realize it, poaching happens every single day. We catch the poachers through tips from the public.?
He added that people who poach animals may not even go out with the idea of doing something illegal.
?A lot of people just go out to the desert to hunt rabbits or to shoot clay pigeons or other targets,? Hammond explained. ?It may not be their initial intent to poach. But too often people may start drinking or just messing around and if an antelope or deer is near, they'll shoot it.?
He added that two years ago, 12 antelope were poached in Tooele County in a single night. Hammond said that while some poachers reside in Tooele County, many come to this area from the Wasatch Front.
?A lot of people come out to Tooele County because we have a lot of desert and open space,? he said. ?Because the area is so large, they figure they can do whatever they want without encountering law enforcement officials. Tooele County is just a big playground to a lot of people. In addition to protected wildlife they often shoot emergency sirens, fences and other items, causing thousands of dollars of damage. They also often leave garbage strewn everywhere, causing people to say, ?Oh, look what the hunters have done to our canyons