GASSAWAY, W.Va. — A Gilmer County man is free on bond after members of the Natural Resources Police charged him with more than 50 counts stemming from illegal turkey hunting.
Clifford Fisher, 65, was arrested by officers on April 4, 2015 following a lengthy investigation. Evidence collected in the course of the case revealed Fisher had long ignored West Virginia game laws for turkey hunting.
“I think the longer it went on he stated he’d never been arrested before,” said Natural Resources Police Sergeant Dwayne Duffield. “I could just tell he knew he’d been doing that for years and he got by with it.”
The case began with several tips from the public about an illegal hunting site in a remote part of Gilmer County off the Gassaway Road near the Braxton County line. Officer Caleb Harper followed up and managed to locate the bait site in March.
“Harper and some other officers had done some recon and found a baited turkey blind,” said Duffield. “It was a homemade type blind. It was suspected he had already killed one and possibly two turkeys from the blind based on evidence they collected that day.”
The officers found fresh turkey feathers at the site of the blind and later on the same property near a hunting cabin found a 55 gallon drum filled with feathers. Back at the blind officers also found a bucket of corn in the blind and corn scattered around the perimeter of the blind.
Harper decided to stake out the location in hopes of catching the suspect in the act. He enlisted the assistance of Natural Resources Police Officer Stevens out of Calhoun County, Officer Fitzwater out of Doddridge County, Officer Phillips out of Ritchie County, and Officer Wilson out of Roane County. During the course of several weeks one or more of the officers kept watch on the blind often starting their stake out as early as 3 a.m.
April 4th Harper and another officer were watching and two other officers were on the road providing backup when Fisher and his juvenile grandson were spotted in the blind. The officers approached the blind in what was described as a “tense situation.”
“As they approached the blind they could see a rifle barrel sticking out the window,” said Duffield. “He didn’t give up immediately and it was a little tense before they could get him out of the blind and get the cuffs on him.”
The officers obtained a search warrant for Harper’s cabin on the property and his residence. Very little was found at the cabin, including the barrel of feathers they had spotted earlier which was gone. However, the residence proved to be a treasure trove.
“A subsequent search of the residence turned up that barrel of feathers and a lot of older evidence of turkey feet and spurs in an out building,” said Duffield. “In his house we found two wooden boards with dates on them. A board marked 2014 had ten beards on it with individual dates on each beard. There was another beard marked 2005 with eight beards and individual dates. It was sort of his bragging board.”
Officers also turned up two fresh turkey carcasses and around 50 spurs and feet of turkeys.
Overall Fisher was charged with more than 50 game law violations. Broken down he faced 20 counts of illegal possession of wildlife, 12 counts of failure to check game, 7 counts of hunting during a closed season, 8 counts of exceeding bag limits, and one count each of hunting on Sunday, hunting over bait, and conspiracy.
Fisher’s case is pending in Gilmer County Magistrate Court. Each count carries a maximum fine of $300 and up to a year in jail.
“Our guys are out a lot of early mornings and it’s very difficult to locate these guys,” Duffield added. “I will say without tips and information from the public, that really gives us a lot to go on when we get that type of information.”