ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 1, 1995                   TAG: 9502010034
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

GILES ANIMAL-CONTROL WORKER FINED FOR SHOOTING AT DEER DECOY

A part-time worker for the Giles County animal control office has been fined $325 after being convicted of charges involving shooting at a deer decoy during hunting season.

Daniel Hubert Spicer, 47, of Narrows, was convicted last month in General District Court of six charges stemming from an incident Nov. 22, 1994, when a bullet hit a deer decoy set up to catch illegal roadside hunters.

Authorities said Spicer, who had worked for the county since August, was driving a county vehicle when the offenses occurred in the Sugar Run community south of Pearisburg.

Spicer was fined $100 for a misdemeanor charge of discharging a weapon from the road. His hunting license has been revoked for 12 months and he has to forfeit his gun, according to court records.

Spicer was also found guilty of hunting from a vehicle, for which he was fined $50 and ordered to pay $100 restitution. He was also found guilty of hunting deer with an illegal caliber which carried a $50 fine; trespassing to hunt on posted property, $50 fine; possessing an illegal turkey $50 fine; and possessing a detached bear-deer-turkey tag, $25 fine.

Lt. Steve Vinson of the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said tags attached to hunting licenses are perforated. Hunters are supposed to detach the proper tag and attach it to the game killed before removing an animal from where it was shot. The illegal turkey charge likely means the turkey was not tagged as required by law, he said.

Spicer was suspended from his part-time job after the charges were placed. The Board of Supervisors reinstated him after their Jan. 17 meeting, County Administrator Janet Tuckwiller said Tuesday.

In recent years, game wardens and law enforcement agencies across the state have turned to decoy deer as a weapon against illegal hunters who shoot from the roadside. Roadside hunters are particularly worrisome to game wardens because of the possibility that they could inadvertently strike livestock or even people who are on their own property.

The decoys are moved to various locations, and patched up when they've taken too many shots. 


 by CNB