Charges are pending in Atchison County against two Florida men following their arrest on deer poaching charges Tuesday afternoon by Protection Division agents from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The agents were assisted by officers from the Maryville Department of Public Safety.

Holt County Conservation Agent Jade Wright said Thursday the men each posted $1,169 bond and waived formal indictment, a procedure that allows them to return to their home state. A spokesperson for the Atchison County Sheriff's Department said the waiver amounts to a guilty plea.

Following the filing of formal charges next week, and depending on disposition of the case in Circuit Court, Wright said it is likely the bonds will be forfeited in lieu of fines.
The arrests followed an MDC Operation Game Thief hotline call reporting suspicious hunting activity on private property along the Atchison/Holt county line near the intersection of Route Z and County Road 390.

Two agents responded to the scene and interviewed a witness who described the suspects as driving a silver-gray Chevrolet pickup truck with Florida tags. The agents found a large headless deer carcass in a nearby cornfield and the head of an eight-point buck along a nearby fencerow.
A second witness reported seeing a black Dodge pickup in the area, also with Florida tags. In addition, two more illegally taken deer were recovered from a roadside ditch northeast of Stanberry.

During their investigation the agents notified area law enforcement agencies, including Maryville Public Safety, which discovered both trucks in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn on the south end of the Business 71 strip, where the suspects were taken into custody.

Pending charges include exceeding the buck deer limit, two counts of failure to check deer, wanton waste and abandonment of deer carcasses and illegal transportation and possession of deer parts. A .270-caliber rifle, a pocket knife and three deer were seized by conservation authorities.

MDC urges anyone who has information regarding wildlife violations to call the Operation Game Thief toll-free hotline at (800) 392-1111.