Police: Hunt leads to illegal moose killing
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By SUSAN SMALHEER Herald Staff - Published: January 17, 2007
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A father who took his son out on Youth Deer Hunting Weekend was arraigned Tuesday on charges he encouraged the 14-year-old boy to illegally shoot a four-point bull moose in Springfield.
Robert Jones, 35, of Springfield, was charged with taking a moose out of season and with contributing to the delinquency of a minor under the age of 16. Jones pleaded innocent to both charges and was released on conditions.
The delinquency charge carries a potential two-year jail sentence and a $2,000 fine; the Vermont Fish and Wildlife charge could result in a fine of up to $500 and a 60-day sentence.
Youth Deer Hunting Weekend was started by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to encourage the hunting tradition in Vermont. The two-day tradition is open to young hunters who have completed hunter safety classes and are accompanied by a licensed adult.
A state news release announcing the 2006 weekend reminded adult escorts to "remember that they are a role model," to display "the best of ethics" and to "obey the law."
According to an affidavit filed by Game Warden Wayne Dengler, the Joneses and a second teenage boy reported the shooting of the moose to Vermont State Police early in the morning of Nov. 4.
All three claimed that Heath Jones, 14, shot the moose after the animal chased them and acted in an aggressive manner, snorting and putting its head down and charging them.
In fact, they told the game wardens, the moose wouldn't leave them alone and continued to follow them.
Dengler, aided by Lt. Dane Hathaway, another game warden, met Jones and the two boys in the woods off Route 5 in the town forest in Springfield to investigate.
When they asked Heath Jones to show them where he had first shot the moose, they could find no evidence of blood or cut hair from the shot. The two game wardens found blood only where the dead moose was lying.
When Jones and the two boys met the two wardens at the Vermont State Police barracks in Rockingham later that afternoon, the game wardens confronted them and told them they believed it was a tragic case of "buck fever" and that Heath Jones had seen some horns and shot the animal, assuming it was a deer.
When confronted, all three admitted to making up the story about the charging moose "in hopes that they would not get in trouble for defending themselves."
But several days later, one of Jones' relatives called Dengler to complain that Robert Jones was showing a video he took with his cellular phone of his son shooting the moose, and that Jones was "quite proud of the fact that Heath had gotten a moose on his first hunt."
Dengler obtained a search warrant for Jones' cell phone and reviewed the videos of the moose killing, which showed a bull moose lying down in the woods and Heath Jones crouching down and shooting the moose. The moose stands up and he shoots it again.
"During this entire video, Robert Jones is never heard or seen preventing his son from shooting the moose," Dengler wrote.
In later cell phone video clips, according to court records, Robert Jones is heard wondering how they can hide the moose.
"Do you know what kind of fine that is?" he is heard saying, according to the game warden's report.
Moose hunting is highly regulated in Vermont, with a limited number of moose licenses issued and restrictions on where they may be taken, Dengler noted. There was no open season for moose in Springfield, he noted.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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