Two arrested for 'spotlighting' and other charges surrounding illegal deer hunting

Two Markleville, Calif., men were arrested on December 17 after a Department of Fish Wildlife warden caught them near Diamond Valley Road and Airport Road (Alpine County) as they attempted to "spotlight" deer.

According to Lt. Chris Stoots of California Fish & Wildlife, Ramsey Gene Horse, 29, and William Eugene Berreman, 26, were allegedly driving a Ford sedan with an artificial light in an attempt to spot and kill deer, an illegal action called spotlighting. They also had two loaded rifles in the back seat.

Spotlighting is a method of hunting nocturnal animals using vehicles off of main roads and using high-powered lights, spotlights, lamps or flashlights, that makes special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species.

"Spotlighting is top of the mountain as far as severity of crimes go," said Stoots. "They shine lights at night when vulnerable wildlife normally find cover in dark. Animals are used to having elevated night vision but they blinded by light and its where we get the term, 'deer in headlights'."

Hunters will utilize this method during mating season when deer aren't as sharp or apt to follow instincts as normal, and they don't avoid humans as much during this season. Mating season is late October through December.

In the deer areas around Lake Tahoe there are normally 12 spotlighting cases a year, with 8-9 of those during mating season. Any time there are vast areas that contain high number of deer and other wildlife and have rural roads to drive, you’ll have spotlighters, Stoots told South Tahoe Now.

Many times spotlighting is done in neighborhoods because deer will hang out there for safety. "This is a risk to public safety and a total lack of ethical sportsmanship," said Stoots.

In the case with the Markleville men, the Game Warden was investigating the Markleville area last year at this time, trying to catch spotlighters after finding plenty of physical evidence that this practice was taking place. Cameras were installed in many areas to try and catch the illegal activity.

Over the last two weeks the Warden was staked out near Diamond Valley Road, watching for the telltale slow moving vehicles with irregular use of headlights. The 20-year veteran saw the lights around 10:00 p.m. Saturday and called the Alpine County Sheriff's office who assisted and made a traffic stop.

"The driver knew having the spotlight and loaded rifles were illegal," said Stoots. "He said he had killed a doe in the same area a few months prior."

Stoots said finding the hunters using spotlights entails a lot sitting and staring into the dark. "Sometimes they won't see a soul for nine to ten hours," he said.

Horse and Berreman each face a total of four charges: Hunting with artificial light, Carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, License not in possession, and Taking a deer without a license. They were transported to the El Dorado County Jail and booked.

A deer wasn't killed in the December 17 incident. Bail for each charge was $2,000.

When Stoots was asked about the fact the hunters were driving a Ford sedan to hunt a deer, he said it wasn't that unusual. When he was in Colusa County he caught drivers of two luxury Lexus sedans spotlighting. They had their trunk lined so blood from deer wouldn't get onto their carpet.