Four young men on Long Island were recently issued tickets for capturing two deer and partying with them. The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation probably wouldn't have found out about it if not for Instagram photos of them drinking beer while clutching the deer. But the celebration was well-deserved, argues the man who caught the deer: "I think I was doing a good deed."
George Salzmann, 18, spoke to WABC 7 to defend himself. He explained that one of the deer was caught in a fence: "We were all helping him... taking the deer, taking it back to the house, cleaning its face off, taking the blood it got from the fence.
And then releasing him... In my eyes, I'm a sportsman, I hunt, I fish, I could have just left him on the fence and did nothing about it."
However, Salzmann did admit, "Probably wasn't a good idea to take pictures and make a big deal out of it." He also cleared up some confusion about the Instagram pictures: "There were two different deer. The one deer you guys didn't even see. The second deer, you guys saw."
The DEC has said, "Deer are wild animals and they shouldn't be handled by people. It stresses the deer, and it's dangerous for the people," and "Although these young men may have thought their actions were harmless and trivial, serious consequences can occur due to these types of actions. Wildlife can be dangerous and unpredictable."
