A husband-and-wife duo was cited by police after the wife shot a deer near the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club and then the husband walked onto the golf course with an AR-15 rifle in search of the wounded animal, according to the Oregon State Police (OSP).
Troopers with the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division said the wife (neither of the people cited were named) admitted to firing from the couple’s elevated porch at a buck near the golf course, located between Mountaindale and North Plains.
“The manager reported that a neighbor had shot a buck adjacent to the golf course, but was shooting towards a greenskeeper,” OSP said.
The incident was recounted in the agency’s monthly field report for October(.pdf). An exact date was not given.
An OSP Fish and Wildlife sergeant out of Portland and a Fish and Wildlife state trooper out of St. Helens responded, where they pieced together what occurred from the couple and the club’s management.
According to OSP, the greenskeeper notified the golf club’s management that shots had been fired nearby. Golf club staff found the man carrying an AR-15 in search of the wounded deer.
“Management located the deer and the suspect shot the deer and drug it to his house,” OSP said.
“Contact was made with the elderly husband and wife duo who admitted to shooting the deer, from their elevated porch, toward one of the greens,” OSP added.
The deer was not tagged, and the wife said she had fired the first shot at the deer and had not printed her tag.
The AR-15 rifle used had a 10-round magazine. In Oregon, semiautomatic rifles must have a magazine capacity of five rounds or fewer when hunting most game mammals, including deer.
The husband was cited for Hunting the Cultivated Land of Another and Hunting with Unauthorized Weapon; the wife was cited for No Big Game Tag, and after the investigation had been completed, warned for Reckless Endangerment.
Troopers seized the rifle and the 3×4 deer.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
