Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife are searching for a person suspected of illegally shooting a mule deer buck with a bow and arrow in Craig on Tuesday.
A wildlife officer on Tuesday afternoon responded to an injured mule deer in the 700 block of Barclay Street. The animal had an arrow embedded in its left rear hip. Given the freshness of the wound, the officer believes the deer was shot that day.
The arrow that was protruding from the deer was made of black carbon with two green fletchings and one black fletching, officials said. The arrow was in relatively new condition, so there is a good chance the weapon could have been a Christmas gift, the agency said in a news release.
“This could be information on someone target practicing with this type of arrow in the area, or receiving them as a gift over the holidays,” said wildlife officer Mike Swaro. “Whoever commits any wildlife crime has the opportunity to do the right thing and turn themselves in immediately, and we will take that into account when determining charges.”
Anyone with information can remain anonymous by calling the Operation Game Thief program at 1-877-265-6648 or emailing game.thief@state.co.us. Monetary rewards are available if the information leads to an arrest or citation.
