Hunter illegally baited ducks with corn, feds say. Now the Connecticut man is fined
A hunter illegally baited ducks by scattering corn kernels in Connecticut, federal prosecutors say.
Now he must pay up.
After luring ducks with kernels to a hunting blind along the Menunketesuck River in Westbrook, the hunter and two others shot and retrieved the birds in October 2020, court documents state. However, the trio didn’t know Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police officers were watching.
The hunter violated the century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which bans people from hunting any migratory game bird by baiting, according to a sentencing memo. Under federal law, ducks are considered migratory birds.
A federal judge has ordered the 51-year-old hunter, of Westbrook, to pay a $4,000 fine after he previously pleaded guilty to violating the act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut announced in a news release.
McClatchy News contacted the man’s attorney on Nov. 2 and was awaiting a response.
The hunter previously violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act near the same river by baiting waterfowl in 2009, prosecutors say. The Menunketesuck River empties into the Long Island Sound, north of Long Island, New York.
In a letter to the judge, his attorney Scott DeLaura wrote that in 2009, his client was “swept up in the arrests” after he was a part of a hunting party that put down seeds for baiting. DeLaura wrote that the hunter did not put the seeds down himself.
As a result, the hunter believed he understood the laws regarding migratory bird hunting and “did not intend to violate (the law) ever again,” DeLaura said.
But on Oct. 10, 2020, the hunter was caught baiting the ducks after Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police received an anonymous tip about corn being dumped around a hunting blind, the sentencing memo states.
His attorney said his client was “training a hunting dog and believed it was appropriate to bait waterfowl in hopes that the training would be productive,” according to the hunter’s reply to the pre-sentencing report.
“Under questioning, (the man) admitted that he had spread corn over the hunting area to attract ducks,” the news release says.
Other migratory game birds protected under federal law include species of geese, swans, doves, pigeons, cranes and more.
Westbrook is about 40 south of Hartford.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Hunter illegally baited ducks with corn, feds say. Now the Connecticut man is fined."
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