Deer Jacking a Problem in New York State

Note: The next few weeks will feature a series of student essays on various topics. Students chose their own issues to investigate.

My dad and I were driving down a back road that goes right through a field. We looked to our left and right and saw bloated deer carcasses in the ditch with bullet holes all over them. Deer jacking is a huge problem in New York that must be stopped.
Deer poaching is an illegal way to harvest deer. Poachers use a spotlight to stop deer in their tracks, and they shoot them down like target practice. Many criminals pay no attention to a deer size or whether it has antlers.
Jacking continues to plague New York state. Recently, six hunters were injured in poaching incidents. There were 107 arrests in Catskills and the Adirondacks alone in 2010.

Deer poaching is not only unsportsmanlike, it can also hurt the deer population. Fewer deer make it harder for predators to survive. It turns everything around in the ecosystem. If there are no predators, rodents will overrun the area, then all the vegetation will be gone and the deer may never come back to that area.

So the next time you see a bright light shining through a field at night and hear gun shots, report it to the DEC. This is the only way we can stop the poachers.

-Chase Dixon