Buck Poacher Arrested at Sandy Hook, Rangers Say

Monmouth County, NJ - A local man was arrested for poaching in Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area, park officials announced Monday.

Park rangers began looking for poachers in the 1,665-acre park after reports surfaced that bait was being left out to attract deer.

They stopped a man in the park acting suspiciously, and later found a dead ten-point buck with an arrow wound. After questioning, the man admitted to hunting within Sandy Hook, and to shooting the deer with the arrow. He was arrested Jan. 1 and the case will be heard in federal court on April 6, park spokeswoman Daphne Yun said.

Deer abound in the park, as do hundreds of seals, shorebirds such as the piping plover and a coyote was even spotted there earlier this winter.

It is currently deer hunting season in New Jersey, but not in Sandy Hook. Poaching in a national park is a federal crime; penalties can include fines up to $10,000 and up to one year in prison. Rangers arrested the man in conjunction with officials from New Jersey State Fish and Game, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.