BARAGA COUNTY, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources ticketed two brothers for illegally killing a pair of trumpeter swans on Sept. 28, the opening day of waterfowl hunting season in the Upper Peninsula.
Trumpeter swans are protected by the state and federal governments, meaning they are illegal to hunt.
Conservation officer Cody Smith received the tip that someone had shot multiple swans in the Sturgeon River sloughs.
Smith was joined with Conservation Officer Doug Hermanson to investigate the tip. They surveyed the area and found the suspects: two brothers in their late 20s from Houghton.
Smith and Hermanson conducted a waterfowl check and found a lead shot in the hunters' possession. Lead shot is toxic when ingested and it is illegal for use when hunting waterfowl.
The DNR officers asked the brothers where the swans were and they confessed to killing the two trumpeter swans. The birds were stashed where they'd dropped and Smith and Hermanson recovered them.
The poachers were issued tickets for killing the two swans and possession of lead shot while waterfowl hunting. Taking illegal waterfowl is a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and up to a $500 for reimbursement.
The DNR said the swans from this case are being retained as evidence. Afterward, they will be used for research or public education.
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