Coeur D'Alene Man Sentenced In Wildlife Violation

A Coeur d'Alene man learned the hard way that a freezer failure does not give a person the right to shoot a second deer. He also learned that Idaho Fish and Game Officers and Kootenai County Deputies are rather adept at following ATV tracks in the snow. On December 22, a call came in to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department reporting the illegal shooting of a whitetail deer. Deputy Mike Douglass was dispatched to the area where he found a deer that had been freshly shot, field dressed, and covered with brush. The diligent Deputy waited two hours in the dark for a subject to return for the deer. When no suspects appeared, Deputy Douglass recovered the deer and secured it as evidence. The following morning, Fish and Game Officer Craig Walker and Deputy Douglass returned to the scene. The two officers found ATV tracks in the light snow cover near the scene, and followed them to a carport at a nearby residence. The Officers knocked on the door, which was answered by a man who said, "I figured you guys would be showing up". He had been waiting for the Officers ever since he saw their vehicles on the road below the house. Knowing the ATV tracks at the scene led straight to his house, he figured it was just a matter of time until he had some explaining to do. David S. Barton, age 51, told the Officers that his freezer had broken, spoiling the meat from both a deer and an elk he had taken legally during the fall hunting seasons. He admitted to shooting the deer behind his home with a .44 magnum rifle in an effort to replace some of the lost meat. When he went to retrieve the deer on his ATV, he noticed an unfamiliar set of boot tracks in the area, so he returned home without the deer. Barton was cited for exceeding the bag limit on deer, and taking a deer with a firearm during an archery only season. Barton was fined $400 plus $96 in court costs for the two violations. He was given 30 days in jail on each charge with all days suspended. He was placed on two years probation and had his hunting privileges suspended for five years. He was also required to reimburse the Idaho Department of Fish and Game $400 for the deer.