OSP trooper tracks 2 Bend poaching suspects in snow

Two Bend men who were tracked by boot prints in the snow face game violation and criminal trespass charges, accused of trying to take an illegally taken buck deer and trespassing through several private parcels, Oregon State Police said Wednesday.

An OSP Fish and Wildlife trooper out of Bend responded around 7:45 a.m. Sunday to a reported poaching incident near Bowery Lane, just north of Bend, said OSP Lt. Cari Boyd.

A homeowner had called after hearing a gunshot and seeing bloody deer tracks in the snow, Boyd said. The trooper spotted deer tracks leaving a trail of blood and two sets of human boot prints following the deer in the snow. Boyd noted there are no deer seasons at this time.

The trooper followed the tracks for about 1 ½ miles, through private properties and public lands. Around 9:15 a.m., the trooper spotted two men dragging a buck deer through the juniper forest.

After the trooper made contact, the men, identified as William Chapman-Prescott, 29, and Joshua Gibb, 27, admitted taking the buck deer and trespassing on several private properties without the land owners’ consent, Boyd said.

An investigation revealed the deer had been shot with a bow and arrow, and the reported gunshot was unrelated to the incident. The bow and arrow used to take the deer was seized at a suspect’s home in Bend.

Chapman-Prescott and Gibb were arrested and booked into the Deschutes County Jail on charges of unlawful take of a buck deer, unlawful possession of a game mammal, aiding/counseling in a wildlife violation and nine counts each of second-degree criminal trespass. They were released from jail on their own recognizance later that day, jail officials said.

The suspects are accused of trespassing across an area of many small private parcels. Boyd said troopers were contacted by several land owners wishing to pursue criminal trespass charges, a Class C misdemeanor. The other charges in the case are Class A misdemeanors, she said.