A DEAD TURKEY WAS FOUND HANGING BY A NOOSE ON COUNTY PROPERTY ON MARCH 21. FISH AND GAME OFFICIALS ARE NOW LOOKING FOR THE CULPRIT. PHOTO COURTESY OF GAME WARDEN FRANK MILAZZO Wild turkey season opened on March 27, but a scouting hunter found a disturbing sign of preseason poaching incident a week before. California Department of Fish and Game Warden Frank Milazzo said a wild turkey had been killed and subsequently hung by a noose in a tree.

A person scouting the area originally marked for the county’s “field of dreams” found the bird hanging in a bull pine tree, overlooking town. While a necropsy has been ordered, Milazzo said the turkey was likely shot before being hung.

The sophistication of the noose is troubling to the game warden. “You’ve got to wonder what was the motive,” Milazzo said. “It didn’t make any sense.”

The bird would have been considered legal if it had been killed in season. Now, whoever killed it faces misdemeanor charges of taking the animal out of season and waste of game. If convicted, that person could face $1,000 fines and up to six months in jail for each count.

Milazzo is bothered by the message something like this sends about other hunters. “It smears all the good, ethical, law-abiding hunters,” he said. “The vast majority of hunters would see that as a desecration of wildlife. Any ethical hunter doesn’t want to see this.”

The fact that the bird was taken on public property adds insult to injury. “It probably won’t sit well with a lot of people,” Milazzo said. He is confident that whoever did this will likely spout off about it.

“Somebody out there knows about it, and we’d like them to come forward,” Milazzo said. Anyone with information can call the CalTIP hotline (888) 334-2258 and remain anonymous. Callers should be prepared to give the fullest possible account of the incident. Information is relayed to the Fish and Game region where the offense occured and an local investigation ensues. If the information the caller relays results in an arrest, the caller can be eligible for a reward.

Milazzo said this case is a priority, and he needs the community’s help. “Something like this doesn’t go unnoticed,” he said. The whole thing concerns Milazzo, who said he has never seen anything like this in all his years on the job. “For hunters, the principle is respect for the resource, and this shows none of that.”