SMART NEWS

Florida Man Arrested For Shooting Robotic Deer

It turns out that states all over the country are using robo-deer to catch people who might try to hunt off season

Contributor

November 15, 2013

In Florida, the Fish and Wildlife Commission just arrested a man for shooting a robotic deer. Erik Tormoen from Outside Online reports:

“He crossed a ditch and walked up toward the fence carrying a rifle,” the report stated. “He placed the rifle on the fence to steady himself and shot at the replica,” hitting it in the neck.

The man was arrested, saying he knew that hunting season was closed and that shooting deer from a roadway is illegal, and was released Sunday after posting $1,120 in bonds. He will appear in court December 12, facing a year in jail and $2,500 in fines if convicted.

Florida isn’t the only state employing the help of robotic decoys to catch off-season hunters. Pennsylvania, Goergia and Utah all using decoy deer to “sting” poachers, too. And they work. One decoy in Georgia was replaced in 2006 after being shot over 1,000 times.

And these seemingly invincible robo-deer confuse poachers. “I’ve seen an individual shoot it with a 30-06 (rifle) and couldn’t figure out why it didn’t go down after he hit it five or six times,” Matt Briggs, a Utah Seargent told the Daily Mail. “It can be really entertaining.”