Video surveillance cameras have been instrumental in bringing shoplifters, bank and convenience store robbers, and vandals to justice. With sentences handed down January 31 in Laramie County Court, add deer poachers to the list.

Videotape didn't catch a 35-year-old Cheyenne man in the act of shooting or helping load two mule deer bucks three miles west of Carpenter on November 30. But cans and a unique wrapper found at the scene took wildlife officers to a Cheyenne business where video surveillance captured the man buying the beer and beef jerky shortly before the incident. The tapes gave officers the break needed to locate this poacher and discover his 20-year-old nephew, who was also involved in the crime.

The poacher was charged with wanton destruction of a mule deer, taking a mule deer out of season and being an accessory to each of the charges.

Judge Denise Nau fined the man $820 and ordered him to pay $2,500 in restitution. She revoked his hunting license privileges for six years and placed him on two years probation. The judge said the fines and restitution must be paid by January 30, 2004.

The nephew, who attends community college in Nebraska, was charged with taking a mule deer out of season and also as an accessory to the charge. He was fined $820, assessed $1,000 restitution, placed on one-year probation and had his hunting privileges revoked for three years. He has one year to pay the fines and restitution.

On December 1, Cheyenne game warden Mark Nelson was notified by a local rancher that it appeared someone had dragged two deer from his field to the county road. In addition to the beer cans and wrapper, Nelson also collected blood samples at the scene.

Without a license plate number or suspect description, Nelson asked Town and Country Supermarket Liquors if anyone had purchased the specific combination of beer and beef jerky the afternoon of November 30. The store not only confirmed a cash purchase of the merchandise, but provided surveillance tapes of the customer.

"The help of Town and Country Liquors is what broke this case open," Nelson said. "The cameras they use to help prevent shoplifting provided a very good, identifiable image of the suspect."

Nelson and fellow game warden Craig Smith took photos made from the tapes to local businesses until the man was identified. The poacher, a construction worker, was contacted December 28 and admitted his involvement. Further interviews of his friends and relatives revealed the nephew's involvement in the crime.

Nelson adds that Town and Country's video system also helped identify suspects in the July 1999 case of three Missouri construction workers who killed a buck antelope just northwest of Cheyenne.

"Buck mule deer are very vulnerable in late November, because they are in the 'rut' or breeding season," Nelson said. "Just like someone who breaks into your house and steals your property, poaching incidents like this steal from all citizens, because wildlife is the property of all Wyoming residents."

The poacher told Nelson the week following his violation that he heard radio reports that the G&F was looking for information about the crime and he "got scared," and discarded both deer in a dumpster. Interviews revealed the man shot one deer and his nephew the other.

The man told the judge he killed the deer "mostly for the meat." When asked by Judge Nau, "Why didn't you get a license and hunt during the season?" he did not reply.

Neither man had any prior wildlife convictions in Wyoming. In wildlife cases heard in district or county court, the fines go to the school district in the county where the violation occurred and the restitution is paid to the state of Wyoming general fund.

Anyone with information about a wildlife violation is urged to call the "Stop Poaching" hotline at (800) 442-4331. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward if the information results in a conviction.