‘Spotlighter’ Shoots Multiple Times at Fish and Wildlife Warden Early This Morning
At approximately 12:40 early this morning, a Fish and Wildlife Warden attempting to stop someone using a spotlight was fired at multiple times by suspects. The incident began on Redwood House Road several miles east of Hwy 36.
The Warden called for backup. He stated, “Shots fired. Redwood House Road…I am westbound…in pursuit of a spotlighter….I’ve been fired at by a handgun…I need backup…Vehicle is occupied times two..Continue to be fired at…Vehicle is a smaller pickup with a rollbar. Appears to be black in color. Single cab.”
A pursuit ensued ending with a traffic collision on Redwood House Road when the vehicle collided with a tree about 1 a.m. The officer requests backup to get there quickly. He can hear suspects moving around the vehicle.
Before other officers arrived, the suspects fled the area leaving a firearm behind.
Law enforcement began tracing the vehicle’s and firearm’s ownership.
Attempts to reach Fish and Wildlife this morning for more information were unsuccessful.
UPDATE 6:44 p.m.: More here: Shooters Still on the Run Following Crash Near Hwy 36
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What’s a “spotlighter” ?
They use high-powered spot-lights, either mounted on the roof of the vehicle or hand-held, and shoot at the eye-shine of creatures in the night. Sick. af
You mean poachers?
Yes. Poaching is any form of illegal hunting, but is generally referred to as hunting out of season or in restricted areas, it covers everything like jacklighting
No not true. We go often and it’s just to check out the critters running around after dark. Yes some will use it as a unfair advantage and poach. My favorite childhood memories were goin out in the family truck watching the planes spray crops and spotlighting deer on the way home. You hippies have no clue about country life.
Well I am not a hippie, and someone at late night spotlighting who shoot at someone is NOT out for fun watching what critters are roaming around.
Hippies don’t know how to live in the country? Interesting. When was the last time you saw crop dusters fly around Humboldt, central valley boy? Go troll somewhere else.
This
“Load up the kids Honey! We’re going out to watch some crop dusting tonight. Don’t forget the popcorn.”
There is something very not right about that scenario. The fact that the dusting happened at night should have been a dead giveaway that something bad was going on. Not to mention all the obvious reasons that should tell a parent to not take their children or themselves anywhere near a crop dusting event.
you never been hungry? or have friends with no means to hunt to bring in food for there family? but in this case it sounds like they where just spotlighting? no reason to shoot at LEO’s. Just glad they did not stand and fight the officer, not a good idea to patrol single.
If I get hungry I go to the fridge, the store, or a restaurant. If I were someone who chose to provide for my family by hunting, then I would do just that….hunt! I wouldn’t wait until the freezer was empty and the family was starving so that I felt I had to go spotlight to keep my family alive. That would be called being an irresponsible family provider and mean that I should just shop for my food.
Sick af??? Let’s not go overboard here. It’s bad for sure, but not as bad as trapping. Now that is sick AF!!
You obviously have zero experience trapping, I grew up trapping with my father and grandfather and by the time I was 9 I ran my first small trap line on muskrats and raccoons. All a trap does is hold the leg of an animal it doesn’t break their leg or cause unnecessary discomfort to the animal. It is important to select the proper trap size for the target species (if you were to use a large trap say a #5 jump spring as you would use on beaver instead of the suggested #1 1/2 for muskrats while trapping for muskrats, yes that would be cruel and painful to the animal, but that us we it is important to know what you are doing). Historically trappers were the first explorers during westward expansion and often had good working relations with native Americans. It is sad to see that people have lost the historical importance of trapping and what it has given this great country. Now I do not trap for a living and not for a profit, I merely run small lines and as long as break even then that’s good enough for me. I do however have an uncle who lives in Alberta and traps for a living in the winter. I have the upmost respect for men like him as trapping is not an easy job. What most don’t realize is that in fact trapping is the easy part, but handling your furs so you get top dollar at auction is necessary if you want to succeed. The workmanship is really impressive especially in a day and age where so few can manage to put in enough effort to make a presentable cheeseburger at a fast foot restaurant. That is all for my personal input. I am however a game warden (what our state would call a “wildlife warden” in California) in one of the northern Rocky Mountain states and i am happy to say that the trapping society is alive and well. For most forbearing animals trapping is the only management plan set up to manage these species just like hunting is to deer, elk, moose, mtn Lions, etc. and without trapping these species would overpopulate causing populations to possibly become diseased, or exceed the carrying capacity of their habitat and be forced to starve. Professionally and personally I would rather have them legally harvested and be put to good use. In some instances we even use traps to relocate populations of animals to establish populations in historical areas that they are no longer present. We are only able to do this because of the low impact a proper sized trap has on our target species. Any questions I would be happy to answer.
OfficerGreenJeans, trapping is sadistic, cruel, unnecessary, and completely unacceptable. It catches any and all unfortunate enough to encounter it. It causes unimaginable and often prolonged suffering & terror. Victims are bludgeoned, drowned, shot, crushed, and suffocated after spending countless hours or days of exposure without food or water. The fact that you defend and even praise these filthy practices makes me question your mental & emotional health. I’m sorry for whatever hideous experiences erased your ability to empathize and discern the difference between right and wrong. The fact that you’re a wildlife “management” agency staffer surprises me not at all. Such agencies are populated with killers, and their (your) mission is to serve killers. Please stop doing so much harm to the world.
a spotlighter is someone who uses a spotlight or vehicle headlights to illegally hunt deer, or anything i guess.
A person using a a light to stop deer ( deer in the headlights idea) and shoot them. It’s illegal in Calfiornua to hunt deer after dark or before daylight and illegal to use a spotlight for deer.
Where is the Mendocino County Armored Vehicle, and every LEO agency including snipers and Downey, and a command post center, and a 100 personell?
Oh ya, not confirmed yet if the shooters are mentally deranged and holed up somewhere.
Apparantly, going mobile after a crime is the etiquette of choice.
You’re ignorant
You don’t pay attention to tax dollar expenditures wasted or operate from critical analyses.
Ignorance is bliss.
Have a great, sun shining day Cupid.
You’re sentence makes no sense. Learn composition and spelling.
You used you’re wrong….
Ooo ooo hot sauce…str8 hot sauce..
Ilegal NIGHT HUNTING
A “spotlighter” is someone who considers themself a “hunter”, but actually is just a lazy, low-life dirtbag that murders wildlife by shining bright lights into their eyes so that, by nature, the animal freezes where it stands and the fat slob then shoots it from his truck! Then tomorrow he brags to his buddies about the eight point buck he “hunted” yesterday.
All hunters are low life scum. Why don’t you give the animals a gun and let them shoot back.
Webster dictionary definition
Hunter-is one who is to stupid to farm his food
Vegetarian – Old Injun word for poor hunter…
Now that’s funny!
Lol
Worlds full of ignorant people. And you are one of them. All hunters are scumbags, who makes a statment like that. You are exactly whats WRONG with this country!👎👎👎
You do realize this country wouldn’t be a country if it wasn’t for those so call “scumbags” of hunters back in the early 1700s if it wasn’t for hunting populations wouldn’t of been able to survive in big numbers
Just because you claim all hunters are scumbags doesn’t make it so. You sound like an idiot.
Troll much? Get a grip Mike. Your ignorance is showing.
And what makes raising beef better than hunting deer?
“Hunters are low life scum” really? Done legally nothing is wrong with hunting. What’s wrong with a man, or woman, putting food on their families table. It’s like saying anyone who eats food should die. Vote trump 2016.
Well I definitely do not believe that all hunters are scum. My point was that “spot lighting” is not hunting. Never has been, never will be.
As a hunter and a wildlife law enforcement officer, I would have to disagree with your statement “all hunters are dirtbags”. Hunting is the largest management tool we have to manage wildlife species, and without it we wouldn’t have nearly the wildlife viewing opportunities we are fortunate enough to have here in this country. There is something called the North American model of wildlife and hunting is at its core. This model is the reason America and North America in general has the greatest wildlife populations and population management strategies in the world. Yes there are folks who don’t follow the rules, poachers. But poachers are not hunters and real hunters do not poach. I do see lots of illegal acts at work, but more often I see families who bond and build relationships through hunting. Their relationships are often much stronger than those I have to deal with who sit at home on the couch and do nothing. Those who hunt are actually bettering the wildlife populations in their area by helping us manage them.
For $1,
you can view the enslaved alligator over 12 feet long at the Humboldt County Fair as the alligator is confined to a slave owning trailor and cubicle space not its natural environment.
Maybe you should complain to PeTA, HoJ, among the thousand other things you rail on about. Go outside, get off the internet and have a nice day for a change.
Get em’!! That’s awful, spotlighting and shooting at rangers, just plan lowlifes.
A “spotlighter” is a person using a high powered flashlight, “spotlight”, to illegally hunt, and or poach.
It’s not illegal to have a spotlight, or to use one, but it is illegal to use them in the state of California to hunt. I’m sure in this case it gave the game warden, who protects fish and wildlife, probable cause to pull them over. They may have, or may not have been using it to hunt, but either way they were up to something fishy!
Yes, high-powered spotlights are completely legal unless used for illegal purposes, just like baseball bats and kitchen knives. When you are driving around at night flashing your power light into the forest, it is way, way likely that you are jacklighting deer. What else? Guns in the rig seals the deal and shooting at anyone removes you from the list of humanity. These perps are total scum.
Shining a spotlight is not illegal unless a method of take is also present (bow, gun etc…). Simply shining a light without a method of take is not generally illegal.
But it’s wabbit season….
Here are the regs concerning spotlight use in CA. Of course all of this goes down the tubes when fish and wildlife officers are being fired on.
http://www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/current/mammalregs.aspx
Spotlighting actually totally blinds the animal so it’s unable to run. Not very sportsmen like.
Exactly, takes the game outta the hunt, the hunt outta the game.
Poachers – Hispanic Mexican nationals? Bulgarian Bogarts? Younger/mid age white trash americans?
Are you the original HOJ who flamed out so spectacularly and was banned for life? Looks like your time in rehab has failed. Looks like you are relapsing. Justice? Right.
Holy kitty cats! Shoot at a DFG warden over a possible , what, few hundred dollar fine? “These are deep waters, Watson – something tells me there was more involved than a possible hunting violation…”
Maybe, but I doubt it. The jackasses who brought guns into the VA seemed to have no motive other than intimidating people with guns. Total, worthless slime just like these perps. See, you’re thinking like a rational person. These suspects are a plague on humanity. There may be no deeper motivation.
I think you’re right. They made some poor choices which leads me to believe they were under the influence of something. Shooting at LE. Taking a right towards town instead of heading to the hills with numerouse escape routes and crashing into the tree. Now in big, big trouble rather than facing the original poaching ticket.
Glad they have the firearm and truck .Now prints and so on should point the way ..
“Law enforcement began tracing the vehicle’s and firearm’s ownership.”
Wow! This whole time I didn’t think DFG did shit except harass steel headers for a stupid punch card. So much poaching of Salmon at the Eel River. So much goes on at night. Also, when the salmon enter the Eel estuary, guys go out there and fillet them as well. I’ve never heard of anyone getting caught. I was wrong. These guys do work.
DFG is hella way better at what they do than the sheriff’s department ever has done at what they can’t do, which is a real embarrassment for the county popo sheriff deputies. Poor leadership trickles down to subordinates who make further poor decisions.
You realize sheriff doesn’t have anything to do with our wildlife laws. The only time they kinda in counter that field is when they do Marijuana busts.
Idk about in California but our sheriffs and troopers can enforce all wildlife law, just as us game wardens can enforce any law in the state, not just wildlife law.
I’m sorry but,that shit pisses me off.in off season you get a bigger fine right?so if your not licensed,off season,at night with a spotlite,I’m guessing here and on private property.shouldnt your fine be huge,besides the attempted murder?just wondering how much law has changed.
Deer archery season opened Saturday, so season is technically open. Hunting after hours, with a rifle and a spotlight. And if they don’t have a license or tag would be another violation. I’m not sure what the fine would be for all that, but whatever it is it isn’t high enough for me. Throw in attempted murder of a warden and this person (s) are going down for a loooong time. Good.
Thank you,it’s been awhile.my son bow hunts.i agree the fine couldn’t be high enough!!
Can you post the scanner traffic from the incident?
How about not hunting at all? This is the 21st Century, not frontier America 1816. Punks in trucks with big lights could be any punk that lives in the sticks and thinks they’re a big man because of a big truck. Sick 19th century thinking. Cavemen.
Hunting, whether you like it or not, should never be outlawed completely.
Go ahead, start a petition for those who are against hunting, and when shit hits the fan, and you are hungry, then the best of luck groveling to stay fed. Of course, you can grow plant food, provided you have soil and water and seeds.
And the problem with hunting is??
Some of us enjoy red meat and don’t mind skipping store-bought meat whenever we can. Do our own killing and butchery rather than pay someone else. Well-prepared venison is one of the best things I have ever eaten and sitting around the campfire stuffing your face is a moment never to be forgotten. I am sorry you will never experience it.
“How about not hunting at all?” No words for such a ridiculous comment!
Mendocino County has gotten a reputation for years as one of the biggest pot growing areas in the state. Could have been involvement in that , as to why they reacted that way….
Redwood House isn’t in Mendo, are even from Northern California?
Redwood House Rd takes off from hwy 36. If headed East on 36, it’s a left hand turn up a dirt/gravel/paved rd. This will then take you to another gravel/dirt/paved rd which circles back to Bridgeville (right turn) or Eureka/Kneeland/Maple Creek (left turn). This is in Humboldt County.
So very true MIKE up the 36 to another illegal den of drugs.
Redwood house road on SR 36 is in Humboldt county.
I can guarentee if we didnt have some sort of Fish and Game, there wouldnt be a deer, fish, mountian lion, fisher eagle chicken killing hawk , coyote, abalone, trout, salmon, bear, left to kill… so all you redmuck mothers should thank the next fish and game person for saving somthingfor you to slaughter . You sorry ased excuses for hunters, If you didnt have your running hounds youd never even see a bear or mt, lion … Remember there were not so long ago grizzleys in almost every gulch from here to hell and back. Alll gone in sunny california, mostly poisened, along with those pesky condors.When the hippies arrived here in the late60’s there was hardley a critter in the woods from all the oakie poachers. The last breeding stock had to take refuge in the Yolla Bollas for christ sake, In winter the deer used to leave in herds for the Sacto.valley. Or was it blue tounge or mt.lions that killed them all? Read your history and in the mean time turn in your local poacher or at least demand a back strap, or bear roast, before they let the rest of it rot and become fly blown .lazy bustards….
Do you just dream this stuff up?
In the late 1960’s when the hippies first started showing up, S. Humboldt’s deer population had exploded, along with all the associated predators.
This was a direct result of the California’s terrible tax policy that taxed standing timber, which resulted in S. Humboldt’s deforestation in the late 50’s.
Here in Salmon Creek, we entered into a another State program(CFIP). After the logging, the food for the deer exploded on the logged over ranches. By the late 60’s, the deer browse was replaced by trees, resulting in many 1000’s of deer starving and being infected with various diseases.
We, with over site from the F&G and State Forestry, fenced off nearly a square mile, F&G certified it deer proof(really no such thing) and planted nearly 500,000 trees. On any given night we would shine a light on the fenced area and never count less than 60 deer, usually over 100.
We got permit to kill as many deer(sex, age, didn’t matter), in 60 days, I shot or killed 66 deer myself I just counted the notches on my gun rack, I was 13 years old.My father and brother killed at least as many. Nearly all were killed at night with a spot light.
Nearly every morning the Game Warden would come out and take the dead deer to the recently opened Con Camp at Redway, or to feed families in need.
Hunting with dogs was outlawed long ago.
The Mountain Lion population is much larger now than in the 60’s and the deer population is vibrant and healthy in my part of the County.
DFW officers are a scant few and incidents like this only prove that they are needed. I’d wager that there were another 100 other dirtbags spotlighting deer last night within the local DFW’s office jurisdiction and the fact that a Warden was around to spook them is proof that they are doing their job. Nobody likes being harassed for minor fishing violations but these men and women have one of the gnarliest jobs in the enforcement business and I encourage anyone who doubts it to learn more about what their job entails.
Wardens are very well armed. Besides his .40 cal. he’s got a .12 gauge shotgun and some sort of M-4 configuration with high capacity magazines in that truck. And that’s what we know about.
Spot lighting is really dangerous for both the deer and other humans who live in the area the “hunter” is working.
Fish and Game have a “robo” deer. With a huge rack and gps monitoring.
It is interesting when you happen to drive by it late at night.
Happened to us near Somes Bar. A light snow was falling along the 96. We came upon the deer and said, “Wow that is one huge and really weird looking buck.” We passed it and then turned on our road and there were numerous Fish and Game trucks, a CHP car, and some black SUV’s.
All turned on their headlights on high beam and we were pretty amazed at the massive turnout of guardians of the robo deer.
Darndest thing we had seen out here in the hinterlands.
Wardens have the most dangerous job in law enforcement. More are killed in the line of duty on a per capita basis than any other LE profession, except for DEA agents. They almost always patrol alone without backup that can get to them quickly in emergencies. And they routinely encounter more armed people than any other LEOs. For this they are required to have a college education, while for the CHP you only need a high school equivalency certificate. And they obviously don’t do the job for the money since they start lower with fewer benefits than CHP.
Pretty sad all these dumb asses more concered about the animals than they are the officer that was shot at.
Yep. Animals have no rights and are there to serve arrogant humans like yourself.
The first week I got out here in ’72 I was camping with some hippies (?) out on Nooning Creek and we went out to hunt deer this way, using the headlights on the VW bug to blind the deer. Somehow, at 17, I didn’t think this was right and attempted to disrupt the hunt, to no avail. (I was probably just a bleeding heart liberal and didn’t approve of any hunting.) Ah those were the days, camping out on Nooning Creek, learning to be a real California hippie.
And the rest is history.
So a big convo about hunters and spotlighting has over ridden the fact that these truly ignorant dumbasses shot at cops and if caught, maybe ruined their lives for a long time. I’m guessing their lawyers will release a statement saying they were scared and thought it was bad guys chasing them. Stupid stupid hicks.
I poached my supper many times and fed many a hungry little Native American venison jerky. I killed over a hundred deer illegally. I would never spotlight it goes against all practical attempts at stealth and you don’t need to. Only an idiot advertises what they are doing stealthy with a 22 cal.
Just remember what Crocodile Dundee did to those lowlife spotlight hunters!