Entiat Men Plead Not Guilty In Trophy Buck Poaching Case

EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF A BLOG POSTED HERE ON JAN. 24 AND ORIGINALLY TITLED "ENTIAT MAN WHO WDFW SAYS POACHED TROPHY BUCK DUE IN COURT TODAY."

A Chelan County, Wash., man plead not guilty earlier this week to a charge of poaching a trophy mule deer buck last fall in a unit he didn't have a permit for.

According to WDFW Officer Eric Oswald, the suspect, identified in court papers as Ryan R. Wood, 35, was drawn for the late rifle hunt in the Chiwawa Unit, but when late in the afternoon of Nov. 16 a 30-plus-inch-wide 4x4 turned up in the orchard outside his home in the Entiat Unit, he allegedly shot and killed it.

THE LARGE MULE DEER BUCK ILLEGALLY KILLED IN THE ENTIAT UNIT. (WDFW)

Then the man and his father, Glen Russell Wood, 62, transported the deer up the Entiat Valley into the Chiwawa Unit and "gutted it there, thinking they'd divert game warden attention," says Oswald.

Afterwards it was taken to a family member's home.

Meanwhile, a timely tip about suspicious activity led Oswald and fellow officer Graham Grant to the valley, and they located the two men at their house.

At first the pair denied hunting.

"However, they had blood on their pants and hands," Oswald says.

Then the buck was found hanging in a tree halfway skinned.

"At that point, the suspect gave a full confession," Oswald says.

He charged Ryan Wood with unlawful hunting big game in a closed season and providing false information. He also charged Glen Wood with aiding in unlawful hunting; Glen Wood also plead not guilty.

The buck and Ryan Wood's Remington Model 700 were seized.

For Washington's riflemen, there are few more popular hunts to put in for than the Chiwawa late season. In 2010, 1,580 hunters applied for the unit's two dozen permits. On average it takes eight years to get drawn.

But despite the long odds, what with the later timing of the hunt and the solid state of the county's deer herd -- last fall WDFW wildlife biologist David Volsen counted 25 bucks per 100 does, a high ratio for an area open to general season hunters -- a Chiwawa tag is the next thing to a guaranteed kill and wallhanger for those who hunt it on the up and up.

"He'd been hunting it," says Oswald of Ryan Wood. "He stated that he'd observed many bucks in the unit."

But for whatever reason, with four days of legal hunting left on his permit, Ryan Wood allegedly decided to kill a buck on the other side of the river.

"Don't know if he got tired of hunting, lazy or greed got the better of him, but it's going to be pretty expensive," says Oswald.

If eventually found guilty, Ryan Wood could lose his hunting privileges for two years, and because the deer's rack qualifies the animal as a trophy, he may also have to pay a $6,000 civil penalty.

Both Woods are due back in court Feb. 27.

Oswald credits the tipster who called WDFW's poaching hotline (1-877-933-9847) for making the case.

"Without the call it would have been really difficult to solve this case," says Oswald. "Thanks to guys willing to step forward and report this stuff."