CSI Corson's: On the Trail of Poachers at the State Park

For more than a decade, Steve Moran has been tracking the small deer herds at .

The 50-year-old accountant and 35th Street resident is not a hunter—he just goes to watch his "south end friends." At first, he says, he found them on the small spit of land south of the Russ Chattin Bridge on the way to Strathmere, but they soon migrated to some of the more remote fingers of upland within the park.

That's where he found an adult buck on a recent outing—but this deer was dead, its carcass still tethered by a snare trap.

Moran said he could see a circular rut around the tree where the trap was set, an apparent sign that the deer had tried to free himself. Moran called Lorraine McKay to report the "horrifying" sight. McKay is superintendent of Corson's Inlet State Park, where hunting and trapping is illegal.

So on Friday morning (Jan. 13), Moran found himself with Doug Ely, a conservation officer with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, trying to pick up the poacher's trail on a walk that started from the beach at 59th Street and Central Avenue. Another conservation officer and a local fisherman were part of the party.

Moran provided the following account:

"Far off the established foot paths, we saw where the poacher had sawed away saplings to access the more remote areas. We came to a clearing the poacher had created by sawing away smaller trees and brush bordered by a large, pruned cedar tree, where presumably he had sat in wait."

"In addition to the freshly killed buck, we found another deer killed in the same fashion, by a braided wire noose trap. This deer looked look like it was killed around two months ago."

"Doug removed the noose from the fresh kill and examined it. He explained that, while hunting in any form is illegal in Corson's Inlet, the use of snare traps in New Jersey is allowed only by a permit/license obtained through the Division. He said the trapper is to 'tag' the trap with a permit number. Since this activity is illegal in Corson's, obviously the traps were not tagged."

"Furthermore, the snare trap we examined was not properly rigged.  According to Doug, a snare trap is to have a 'stop' placed along the braided wire preventing the noose from exceeding approximately 2 inches in diameter."

"He explained the intent of a snare trap is to snare only the prey's foot. He said such traps are used for smaller game: red fox, opossum, raccoon, etc. We surmised the traps were set at the end of October as we actually found an A.C. Press still in its plastic sleeve back in one of the remote areas where the poacher been setting up operations, bearing the date 10/20/11."

"The poacher in all likelihood was targeting the red fox. But the facts remain: 1) The snare traps were set across established deer trails; 2) Without a 'stop' cinched along the wire braid, the resulting noose was wide enough to accommodate an entire deer's head, antlers included; and 3) The illegality of the whole operation in the first place."

"So we concluded the poacher returned to check his traps for fox, saw the big deers had fallen prey, and just left them, or just didn't return at all (the fresher of the two kills is only 2 or 3 weeks old). We searched a while for more traps, finding none we left."

Moran said Ely asked him and others to remain diligent for any signs of similar operations with the park. The telepone number for the park is 609-861-2404.