TWO MEN LOSE HUNTING PRIVILEGES OVER ILLEGAL TROPHY DEER KILL

Wisconsin and Idaho Men Acknowledge Lying About Lincoln County Location

An Idaho man and a Wisconsin man have lost their hunting privileges for three years for illegally killing a trophy mule deer east of Highway 75 in Lincoln County.

Gary A. Lehnherr , 41, of McFarland, Wisconsin, shot the deer on October 27, 2004, with a high-caliber center fire rifle in a Game Management Unit (GMU) open only to traditional muzzleloaders. Lehnherr then transported the antlers to his home in Wisconsin. When questioned later by investigators, Lehnherr claimed that the kill had been made west of Highway 75, in a GMU where high-caliber rifles are permitted. Ronnie A. Gardner, 54, of Jerome, assisted Lehnherr in making the kill and also misrepresented its location when questioned by investigators.

Visiting U.S. District Judge William Chubb sentenced the two men to three years on probation, during which they may not hunt. He also ordered Gardner to pay a fine of $2500 and restitution of $1000 to the Idaho Department of Fish & Game. Lehnherr was ordered to pay a fine of $2300 and restitution of $1700 to the Idaho Department of Fish & Game.

Lehnherr and Gardner were hunting under an Idaho Fish and Game "Supertag" that Lehnherr won in a random draw. Supertags allow hunters to take listed species, including mule deer, but require that other regulations are followed.

Investigators from the Idaho Department of Fish & Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the deer was so big it would have gone into the record books had it been taken with a traditional muzzleloader. The deer also had an extremely rare antler configuration, investigators said.

Idaho Fish & Game investigators did most of the work on the case. On October 30, 2004, they learned of the kill and traced the deer to Gardner's son's taxidermy shop. Gardner claimed that he and Lehnherr were hunting with muzzleloaders east of Highway 75 when they shot at and scared the deer. He said they found it several days later on the west side of Highway 75 and shot it with a center fire rifle. With the help of a local hunter who had been tracking the deer for months, Fish & Game investigators found the actual kill site, east of Highway 75 in the muzzleloader-only area. DNA from blood and hair found at the site was matched to DNA from the deer's antlers, proving the deer was shot there.