Ducks illegally baited, hunted
Milford, DE (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Dec 1, 2006
County: Sussex

Charges: Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendants/Suspects:
» William Bryant
» Adult
» Adult
» Adult
» Adult

Delaware fined William Bryant of Nottingham, Pa., $1,000 after he pleaded guilty to baiting a pond to lure waterfowl for hunters. Bryant faced up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine for the federal misdemeanor.

Corn found in a shallow pond near Milford, Del., shortly before duck hunting season a year ago alerted a state law enforcement agent to the possibility of illegal baiting. Federal regulations govern waterfowl hunting, and they prohibit placing bait such as grain or corn to entice waterfowl to hunters. "Baiting removes the fair chase from hunting and provides an advantage over people who hunt legally," said Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Healy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast Region Office of Law Enforcement.

Together, the Service and the Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Section investigated the baiting during the 2006 - 2007 waterfowl hunting season. Agents documented Bryant placing, on three separate occasions, whole kernel corn in the pond, located on property leased by a hunt club. Shortly afterward, Bryant and others hunted the baited pond.

Fish and Wildlife law enforcement agents subsequently issued federal violation notices to four men. Three Dover men received violation notices, and each paid a $325 fine for hunting migratory game birds using bait. One Delran, N.J., man paid a $550 fine for the baiting violation and for hunting without a federal waterfowl stamp and possessing lead shot, which has been banned for 16 years.

Bryant has been a member of the Tall Pine Club, Inc., a hunt club, for more than 30 years. In January 2007 the club revoked Bryant's waterfowl hunting privileges for two years.

Lesley Frieder Wolf, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, prosecuted the case.

References

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