Two arrested in suspected poaching incident

By STEVEN HAUSLER

Hays Daily News

A manhunt ended in the arrest of two men Tuesday evening in connection with a suspected deer poaching incident in rural Ellis County.

The two men, Ryan Christopher Feuerborn, 23, of Louisburg, and Brian Alan Clapp, 25, of Butler, Mo., were apprehended after a search that lasted more than two hours. An unnamed witness saw the men shoot a trophy white-tailed buck from their vehicle along the Saline River in northwest Ellis County.

Law enforcement officers with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Kansas Highway Patrol, Hays Police Department and Ellis County Sheriff's Department all were involved in the search effort. A KHP airplane using forward-looking infrared radar, FLIR, a night-vision device mounted on the plane, flew to the scene to help search for the men.

One suspect, detected by the airplane's FLIR, was arrested after hiding in an uncut grain sorghum field for nearly two hours. The second man fled the scene and checked in at two different motel rooms in Hays later that evening. He was arrested in Hays after a short chase on foot. A rifle was seized outside the motel room where the man had first checked in, and four other guns were collected from the vehicle, driven by a woman.

According to law enforcement, the two men were riding with the woman who had dropped the men off after they began shooting at the deer from their vehicle.

The woman was later released from custody.

The witness, a local bowhunter, told KDWP the men shot the deer from Riverview Road, firing in his direction where he was bowhunting from a tree stand.

The witness took cover behind a tree and when the shooting stopped, he ran to his truck. The witness then stopped the driver of the vehicle and held her until law enforcement arrived at the scene. It is believed the suspects were attempting to cut off the deer's antlers when the witness verbally confronted the two men from a distance.

The two men then abandoned the deer and fled on foot into the grain field.

"Having the KHP plane up there with the FLIR unit was a big help and was probably the key to catching these guys," said Shane Zeigler, a game warden for KDWP.

Officials with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks said the two men are expected to be charged with two felonies: illegal harvest of a trophy deer, which comes with a fine of $5,000, and obstructing official duty. The men also are expected to be charged with eight misdemeanors: hunting without a license, hunting without a valid deer permit, criminal hunting without permission, hunting from a vehicle, wanton waste, hunting deer with an illegal caliber firearm, hunting during a closed season, and criminal discharge of a firearm.

Officials with KDWP said they are investigating a number of deer poaching incidents across northwest Kansas, including a late October incident in southern Ellis County near Munjor where an arrest was made.