Police say a Wasco County man tried to reap his own personal bumper crop of mule deer, but instead ended up sowing the latest set of misdemeanor charges for targeting a decoy deer.

Brian LaFaver allegedly rammed "Scruffy," Oregon State Police's decoy deer, with his pickup off a Forest Service road during a Wildlife Enforcement Decoy operation Dec. 7 in southern Wasco County.

The impact sent the decoy flying 12 feet, severely damaging the decoy named for its bullet-tattered hide from past poaching cases, police said.

LaFaver, 34, of Tygh Valley, was cited on charges of unlawful take of a deer in closed season and second-degree criminal mischief for damaging the decoy, police said.

LaFaver, who had his wife and two small children in the pickup, also was cited for driving without a valid operator's license.

Investigators believe it was the second time someone has tried to turn Scruffy into roadkill, but ended up in court.

"I think we charged the guy with criminal mischief in that one, too," says Lt. David Cleary, who supervises wildlife enforcement for OSP's Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division.

"It's not real common, that's for sure," Cleary says.

Troopers were in the Rock Creek/Wamic area of the northeast Oregon county on Dec. 7 after several large bucks had been poached there recently, with only their heads or antlers removed and the carcasses left to rot, OSP said.

The decoy was placed about 30 feet off a Forest Service roadway in a clearing that included some trees, police said.

LaFaver, who told police he was Christmas tree hunting, allegedly drove the pickup off the road and through a ditch before ramming the decoy, OSP Senior Trooper Swede Pearson says.

"Sitting there watching it, I'm thinking, 'Is he going to do it? I think he is. Yep, there he goes,' " Pearson says.

The impact knocked Scruffy's antlers off and broke two of its legs, Pearson says.

Pearson says LaFaver told him at the scene that he was not trying to hit the decoy. LaFaver claimed he thought it was a real deer and wanted his kids to get a closer look at it, Pearson says.

Reached by telephone at his home, LaFaver said he had no comment this week about the case and hung up.

LaFaver was set to appear Monday in Wasco County Circuit Circuit Court on the misdemeanor charges, records show.

Parma officials called the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which has no plans to help the deer.

"It is very difficult to try to tranquilize a free-ranging deer," wildlife officer supervisor Doug Miller said. "And our policy is, if we do tranquilize a deer, it must be euthanized."

Wildlife officers fatally shoot the deer they tranquilize because the drug taints the meat that could be consumed by people if the deer were killed by a hunter or motorist.

Miller said spraying a spot of brightly colored paint on the deer to show that it had been tranquilized is not an option, because the paint might wear off before the drug fully leaves the deer's body.

A deer was spotted last month in Broadview Heights with a plastic pumpkin stuck on its head. No one has reported seeing the deer lately, Miller said.

He recommends that people never leave food containers where wildlife can reach them.

AUSTIN, Texas — Game wardens in the Special Operations Unit of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Law Enforcement Division have arrested six men and executed two search warrants as part of Operation Texas Shuffle, a year-long investigation into the black market deer trade in Texas.

"Our focus here is stopping two main areas of criminal activity: deer being brought illegally across state lines, and wild deer being illegally laundered into deer breeding facilities," said Col. Pete Flores, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement director.

Five of the men were arrested yesterday, including William Kornegay, 42, of Eden in Concho County; James Johnson, 60, of Florence in Williamson County; and Jeff Arbogust, 48, of Austin in Travis County, Chris Sharp, 33, of Marble Falls in Burnet County; and Ronald Rogers, 39, of San Saba in San Saba County. The sixth suspect, Lance Clawson, 40, of Regency in Mills County, turned himself in this morning.

All six are alleged to have trapped, purchased or sold wild native whitetail deer. In addition, Rogers, Clawson and Kornegay are involved with permitted deer breeding facilities and are believed to have laundered wild deer into the permitted facilities. Kornegay serves as an agent for multiple licensed deer breeders. In one case, Clawson, a permitted deer breeding facility operator, allegedly darted wild deer and put them illegally into his facility.

Deer breeding is a legal and growing business in Texas, estimated by one breeder organization to be worth about $650 million per year for the state economy. It is illegal to capture or obtain wild deer and place them into breeding facilities. Breeders must obtain captive, pen-raised deer from other permitted breeders. There are currently 1,099 permitted deer breeders in Texas, holding 86,989 deer in 1,161 facilities. The vast majority of these are whitetail deer, and the rest are mule deer, the two native species in Texas.

"Money is driving the illegal trade in wild native deer," said Capt. Greg Williford with TPWD Law Enforcement Division’s Special Operations Unit. "A captive-raised breeder buck can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. So, catching deer in the wild seems a lot less expensive, until you get caught."

TPWD regulates deer breeding, issuing permits and conducting periodic facility inspections as warranted. A particular concern is monitoring breeding facilities for diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease. CWD has not been detected in Texas, but it has cost tens of millions of dollars in other states. Texas borders essentially remain closed to the importation of whitetail and mule deer because of disease concerns.

Clawson and Rogers were previously apprehended Oct. 16 by Texas game wardens and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agents for smuggling eight deer into Texas from Oklahoma. Such interstate smuggling is not only illegal but also poses a disease threat to native whitetail deer.

Numerous Class B misdemeanors (fines up to $2,000 and up to 180 days confinement) have been filed on all six men for violating state Trap, Transport, and Transplant regulations relating to whitetail deer. As the investigation continues, additional charges and arrests are anticipated, including possible felony charges of tampering with a government document, and possible illegal possession of tranquilizer drugs, also a felony.

Based on where the alleged offenses occurred, county attorneys in Mills, Bell, Lampasas and Concho Counties will be prosecuting the misdemeanor charges.

Anyone who observes illegal deer trapping, sale or purchase in Texas should call Operation Game Thief toll-free at (800) 792-GAME. OGT is Texas’ privately funded wildlife crime stoppers hotline, operating 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Rewards of up to $1,000 may be paid to callers (who may remain anonymous). Game wardens recommend making the call immediately when illegal activity is observed, and say it is helpful to have a description of the activity, location of the violation, physical descriptions of alleged violators, description of any vehicles and the direction of travel.