Vt. hunter busted for bolting antlers on dead doe

[March 16, 2009]  BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- A man who bolted antlers to the head of a dead doe and posed for a photograph with the deer was fined $400 and jailed for game violations.

Marcel Fournier, 19, shot the deer the evening of Nov. 22 and used lag bolts and epoxy to attach a 10-point rack, officials said. He then checked in the kill as lawful game at Barnie's Market.

It's illegal to kill an antlerless deer, and it's also illegal to hunt at night.

The Concord resident admitted to the killing and led a game warden to the deer's remains after an anonymous caller alerted authorities. Fournier said he had "quite a time" drilling and fastening the antlers, authorities said.

Game warden David Gregory said the antlers didn't look or feel right.

"When you grabbed them, you'd feel movement," he said.

Col. David LeCours, chief warden of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the size of the antlers relative to the size of the deer seemed off.

"Something wasn't natural about them, in addition to the fact that they weren't natural," he said.

Fournier was sentenced to 10 days in jail Feb. 18 for taking a deer in a closed season. He won't qualify for a state hunting, fishing or trapping license for at least three years.

LeCours said add-on antlers are the stuff of legend, but that it's the first documented case of it in Vermont.

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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/

[Associated Press]

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