Pennsylvania Game News - September 2010 - 29

thing needed to be done about it. I patrolled the area often, but I was just one man patrolling a 450-square-mile district with many additional responsibilities. This was a situation that begged for a deer decoy, and I had the perfect spot in mind. I contacted some of my neighboring officers for assistance, and we set up early in the morning on the second day of deer season. The decoy was a mounted 6-point buck lying down with its head erect. The internal motor, used to rotate the head, had been shot out some time before. We placed the deer beneath a hemlock tree about 40 yards from the roadway, and partially concealed it with brush. We arranged it in such a manner that the casual observer would not see it, but those who were roadhunting had a reasonably good chance of spotting it. It was a rather small 6-point, not a trophy rack by any stretch, and certainly wouldn’t entice someone who was not already predisposed to shooting from the road. Two officers in camouflage strategically concealed themselves near the decoy. One of them would use a video camera to record unlawful acts. A patrol car was hidden nearby with two uniformed officers, and I was stationed in the area to write citations, or to stop anyone fleeing the scene. Almost immediately we had our first shooter. It soon became so busy that violators were lined up near my vehicle, waiting for their turn to receive the appropriate citations. Within two hours we had apprehended 13 people, and sadly, all of this roadhunting was occurring on the second morning of deer season. The oldest violator was 94. Vito had been chauffeured by his 85-year-old friend, and was sitting in the back seat of the sedan when he shot at the decoy. Vito was very thin and frail. He almost fell as he nervously walked toward me, still wearing his bedroom slippers. With a worried expression on his face, Vito asked if I was going to arrest him. “Calm down, Vito,” I said. “Come
SEPTEMBER 2010

on . . . let’s get back in your car,” as I walked with him. I opened the back door of the sedan and began helping him back in, but the elderly driver started pulling away while Vito only had one leg in the car. “Stop!” I yelled. Fortunately, the car came to an abrupt halt. At this point, my main concern was getting them safely on their way home. I told Vito he would receive a written warning in the mail, not a fine. This had an immediate calming effect on the two elderly men. During my career, that was the only time I issued a warning rather than a citation for unlawfully shooting at a decoy. I believed that because of his age and condition, the mental stress of an “arrest” could have been too much for Vito to handle. Soon after Vito and his friend drove away, another violator was escorted to my position by an assisting deputy. However, this person was much younger, and in good physical condition. It was Choo-Choo Twayne. After trying for years, we finally caught him. And it was a rock solid case captured on video. Choo-Choo was his usual arrogant, cocky self, so I didn’t have much to say other than handing him some citations. As he drove away, I thought that Choo-Choo reminded me of Brutus (the nemesis of Popeye the sailor). I loved watching Popeye cartoons when I was a child in the 1950s. Everyone I had ever cited in the past for decoy related offenses pled guilty. After all, there were witnesses, and the whole thing was captured on video. But Choo-Choo did the unexpected. He hired an attorney and pled not guilty. A few weeks passed, and ChooChoo’s big day in court arrived. He had a very competent attorney by his side as he strolled into the courtroom with a broad, defiant smile. Hearings made
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Pennsylvania Game News - September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2010