Officer Sutton was patrolling Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, on a Saturday during the Permit Muzzleloader Deer Season and observed a hunter in a tree stand who was not wearing the required hunter fluorescent orange. Officer Sutton approached the hunter and found him to be in possession of a 20 gauge shotgun loaded with rifled slugs. The unlicensed hunter was adamant that he was not deer hunting but instead was fox/coyote hunting, even though he was in a tree stand near a corn pile and did not have any fox/coyote calls in his possession. Officer Sutton issued him summonses for hunting without a license, failing to wear the required hunter fluorescent orange while firearm hunting, and hunting fox/coyote with illegal missiles.

Officer Wren and Lt. Applegate responded to a complaint in Raritan Township, Hunterdon County, of a hunter that had trespassed onto a farm that he did not have permission to hunt on and shot two deer out of a chicken coop on the property. The officers were able to find two fresh gut piles and drag marks leading back to an adjacent property. The property owner gave them the name of the only man that has permission to hunt his property, who is a resident of Pennsylvania. The officers travelled to PA and interviewed the suspect, who gave a complete confession and also admitted to not tagging or registering either deer. Officer Wren followed up on the trespass allegation and found out that the abandoned farm is jointly owned by three siblings who do not get along, and one sibling had given the suspect permission to hunt without telling the other siblings. No trespass charges were filed in the matter, but Officer Wren did issue summonses for two counts each of failing to complete a deer tag immediately upon killing and failing to register a deer.

During the 2011-12 Firearm Deer Season, Officer Holmes was contacted by a resident of Clinton Township, Hunterdon County about tree stands that were within the safety zone of her home. Officer Holmes checked the area and located two tree stands on an adjacent piece of township owned property that were within the safety zone, but after repeated checks was never able to apprehend anyone hunting the stands. On a midweek morning during the 2012-13 Firearm Deer Season in January, the same resident contacted Officer Holmes via cellphone claiming that the hunters had returned and were currently in the woods adjacent to her property. Officer Holmes responded out from his residence and was able to apprehend the two hunters in the township property. Though both hunters had moved their tree stand locations and were now outside of the safety zone, neither hunter was wearing the required fluorescent orange and neither hunter had purchased a Firearm Deer Permit. Summonses for failing to wear orange and hunting without a valid permit were issued to both hunters.

Officer Sutton was contacted by the Morris County Park Police about some complaints they had received about hunters participating in the Morris County Parks special permit deer hunt. One particular complaint involved a hunter that had been heard claiming that he carries a handgun on him while hunting in the park, and another complaint was about hunters consuming alcohol between deer drives. Arrangements were made to offer assistance, and on the next open day for hunting in the Morris County Parks, Officer Sutton, Officer Holmes and Lieutenant Applegate joined four Morris County Police Officers and saturated the area. The joint patrol was very successful, with a lot of hunters contacted and multiple summonses and written warnings issued by both departments. Contact was made with both parties mentioned in the complaints, and the hunter known to carry a handgun admitted to doing so in the past but did not have the weapon when contacted. Summonses and written warnings were issued for hunting without a license, uncased shotgun in a motor vehicle, possession of slugs without the proper sights, possession of untagged/ unregistered deer, and failure to exhibit licenses and permits upon request; as well as multiple parks and motor vehicle violations issued by Morris County Park Police. As a result of the joint patrol, Morris County Parks have disqualified nine hunters from participating in the Morris County Park special deer hunt.

Officer Holmes was contacted by a resident of West Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, who claimed to have heard a shot very close to his residence. Officer Holmes responded to the area just before dark and was able to locate a vehicle parked in a secluded area across the street from the complainant's house. A hunter carrying a loaded shotgun and not wearing any fluorescent orange came out of the woods near the caller's house a short time later and Officer Holmes was there to greet him. The out-of-state hunter claimed that his family used to live in the area and that this was the only place that he knew to hunt, though a very large piece of Wildlife Management Area property is a short distance down the road. Officer Holmes was unable to locate where the hunter had shot from earlier or any dead deer in the area, but the hunter was very close to numerous homes when he came out of the woods with his gun loaded. Summonses were issued for possession of a loaded shotgun within 450 feet of an occupied building, hunting without a valid license and permit, possession of slugs without the proper sights and shotgun deer hunting without wearing the required fluorescent orange.

Lt. Lacroix was patrolling the Assunpink WMA during the permit shotgun season, when she observed a man sitting inside his pickup truck on one of the dead end roads. The man stated that the rest of his family was currently hunting, but he was too tired to go with them. The officer observed two dead deer in the back of the pickup truck which the man stated belonged to his son and grandson. The following day, Lt. Lacroix checked the deer database and found that the grandson had not checked his deer in. After meeting with the hunter at his residence, he admitted that he didn't check his deer because he didn't want to use his cell phone minutes to call the automated number and didn't have time to check it on the computer. He stated he liked the old system better. A check of his hunting license also showed that he had never filled in the tag immediately upon killing. Two summonses were issued for failing to tag and failing to check the deer.

CO Martiak conducted a Cold Water Immersion training class for the new Conservation Officer recruits.

CO's Riviello, Martiak and McManus and Lt. Lacroix investigated a hunting accident that occurred on the Assunpink WMA during the permit shotgun season. A hunting club was conducting a deer drive in a wooded area of the WMA, when one of the members covered another club member while attempting to shoot at running deer. The victim was struck with two 00B pellets in his right leg. One pellet struck him in the calf and penetrated through the leg. The other pellet struck him in the groin. The victim was transported to the hospital where he was treated and released. The pellet in his groin was not removed. The shooter was charged with negligent use of a firearm and careless discharge of a firearm while hunting.

Lt. O'Rourke was patrolling Greenwood Forest WMA in Barnegat Twp. in Ocean County, when he observed several ATVs and dirt bikes in an area known as “Parker's Pit”. Upon inspecting the group of riders, one of them walked over to Lt. O'Rourke and advised him he was responsible for bringing the group into the pit. Lt. O'Rourke issued him a summons for operating an off road vehicle on a WMA without a permit. Lt. O'Rourke advised the other riders of the rules and regulations regarding operating off road vehicles on WMAs.

Conservation Officer Jean Mutone was patrolling Little Egg Harbor Twp. in Ocean County, when she observed two men fishing from a boat in Holly Lake. Upon inspection, both anglers advised Officer Mutone they were fishing for largemouth bass, getting ready for an upcoming winter tournament. One angler stated he caught two largemouth bass and the other stated he caught one. Officer Mutone requested to see their fishing licenses. Both anglers handed Officer Mutone expired fishing licenses. Officer Mutone issued both anglers summonses for fishing without a valid license.

Conservation Officer Mutone located a small dump of household debris on Stafford Forge WMA in Little Egg Harbor Twp. in Ocean County. Officer Mutone searched through the debris and found some mail with a woman's Toms River address. She interviewed the woman about the illegal dump. The woman advised her that she let a friend borrow her vehicle and provided his name and contact information to Officer Mutone. Officer Mutone interviewed the man that borrowed the truck. When she confronted him with the evidence, the man told her the debris must have fallen out of the truck. Officer Mutone issued him a summons for discarding refuse on a State WMA. He was also issued a summons for a Title 13 charge for unauthorized disposal of solid waste in excess of 0.148 cubic yards.

In mid-November a resident of Plumsted Twp. in Ocean County contacted the Central Region Office. He reported that he found his cat, alive, caught in a snare. There was no name or trapper ID number on the snare. Conservation Officer McManus met the complainant at his residence. He took Officer McManus to an adjacent abandoned horse farm and showed him where he found the cat in the snare. Officer McManus checked the area and found a total of 15 snares. There were no stops and no name tags or trapper ID number on the snares. Officer McManus tripped the snares in hopes of catching the individual tending the snares. For three weeks Officer McManus conducted surveillance of this particular area with no success. On January 8th, Officer McManus checked the snares and found a fox and a raccoon in the snares. Later that day, the complainant called him and said the trapper was at the farm tending his snares. Officer McManus confronted the trapper, who admitted to trapping the fox and raccoon. The trapper also admitted that he had not checked his snares for three days. The trapper was issued summonses for trapping without a license, failure to check traps every 24 hours, using snares without stops and untagged traps.

Conservation Officer Toppin responded to a complaint in West Deptford Township, in Gloucester County at the request of the local police department. They apprehended a hunter trespassing at the Sunoco refinery during the permit shotgun season. CO Toppin conducted an interview and the hunter admitted to unlawfully harvesting two deer while trespassing and hunting without the required amount of hunter's orange. CO Toppin charged the hunter with trespass for the purpose of hunting, two counts of fail to tag and register a deer and hunting without the required hunter's orange.

Conservation Officers Stites, Trembley and Lt. Risher responded to a Non-Target Impact in Alloway Township, Salem County during the permit shotgun season. CO's Stites and Trembley conducted the field interviews with the shooter and driver. One hunter admitted to harvesting a deer during the drive and took full responsibility for shooting the house which was approximately 350 yards across the field. The hunter provided the officers with a full written statement. CO Trembley filed two charges against the hunter; one for damage to property while hunting and one for careless discharge of a firearm while hunting.

Lieutenant Risher responded to a complaint from the New Jersey State Police Bellmawr Barracks about a pair of hunters they apprehended hunting between State Highway 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike in Cherry Hill Township, Camden County. Lt. Risher interviewed the adult hunter and obtained a full written confession. The hunter admitted to unlawfully hunting deer in zone 49 when he only had a valid zone 48 permit, hunting deer without wearing the required amount of hunter's orange and hunting without a current firearm license. He also admitted to harvesting a deer in Burlington County earlier that morning but failed to tag and register deer as required by law. The hunters were also trespassing for the purpose of hunting. Lt. Risher issued summonses for hunting without a license, hunting without the required amount of hunter's orange, fail to tag and register deer after harvest, hunting without a valid zone 49 permit and a written warning for trespass for the purpose of hunting. The juvenile hunter was issued warnings for trespass for the purpose of hunting and hunting deer without a valid zone 49 permit. CO Toppin responded and also interviewed the adult hunter on a separate hunter harassment complaint dealing with the theft of a trail camera. The adult admitted to the theft and returned the stolen camera to CO Toppin. CO Toppin issued an additional summons for hunter harassment.

Conservation Officer James made a deer case in Corbin City, Atlantic County where he had information that a hunter had taken a deer without a license or permit. He arrived at the suspect's house and asked if he had harvested a deer this season. During the interview, CO James inspected the bed of the suspects' truck where he discovered a drop of blood. Officer James was told a story that the deer blood had come from a deer given to him by a friend. When asked who the friend was, the suspect declined to give a name. At this point, the suspect claimed that he had retrieved a road killed deer from Route 130 in Camden County and had the deer hanging nearby. CO James retrieved the deer and took it for a more thorough examination. He discovered a neck wound that appeared to be caused by a broadhead, but no other trauma on the deer. The suspect is being charged with hunting without a license, hunting without a permit, failure to tag a deer or register a deer, illegal possession of a deer and interference with the duties of a Conservation Officer.

Conservation Officer James inspected a number of waterfowl hunters this season in Lower Township, Cape May County. After watching a blind for a while and observing many shots fired at waterfowl, he inspected the hunters. The three hunters were found with four black ducks, one over the limit, one hunter did not possess a duck stamp and one of them possessed a half box of lead shotgun shells. The hunter who possessed the lead shot was a juvenile so he was given a written warning. One adult hunter received a summons for being over the daily limit for black ducks and the other hunter was issued a summons for not possessing a duck stamp.

Conservation Officer Fox was patrolling for coastal waterfowl hunters with Lt. Ely when he spotted some hunters on the marsh in an area which was seemingly inaccessible in Middle Township, Cape May County. Lt. Ely knew of a way to access the area from the Garden State Parkway along a little known road. They parked their patrol vehicle on the shoulder, and went into the woods until they found the overgrown road. After waiting a short time, a group of hunters came out to the officers. While inspecting them, more voices were heard up the road. Another group of hunters was approaching. Upon seeing the officers, three of the four hunters stopped short and stepped into the woods. The remaining hunter quickly approached the officers and tried to start a bland conversation to deflect their attention from his hunting group. Lt. Ely ignored him and quickly approached the remaining three hunters and found a black duck stuffed under the grass a short distance from them. One hunter took responsibility for the over limit duck and he was charged. When asked how they had accessed the area, they explained that they parked on the western side of the Parkway and ran across both the north and southbound lanes. They asked if they could put their decoys and guns in the officers patrol vehicle so that they didn't have to carry them back across the roadway to their cars. Their gear was driven back to their cars and the summons for the over limit duck was issued there.

Conservation Officer Vazquez had a hunter with a doe who had not filled out his transportation tag. When asked about it, the hunter said that he didn't know he needed to fill out anything because the Digest stated in bold letters that hunters were not to attach the tag to their deer. He said that he planned to call in his deer that evening. This has been one of the most common question asked officers by hunters in the field regarding the new tagging regulations. In this case, CO Vazquez was able to see that the deer was taken in an unlimited antlerless zone and that the hunter had no perceptible advantage not to tag his deer. He was issued a warning for the violation.

District Six Conservation Officers inspected an increasing number of trappers this season as the number of trappers seems to be rising. Hearing that muskrat may be going for up to $20 a pelt may have something to do with it. Previously they had been going for no more than $6 to $8 a pelt, but have they have become very scarce in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

On 12/29/12, CO Klitz was patrolling the Point Pleasant Beach, Ocean County area and observed a commercial fishing vessel entering the Manasquan Inlet. CO Klitz followed the vessel to a dock located behind the Point Lobster Company. The vessel landed approximately 1,000 pounds of American lobster. During the inspection CO Klitz discovered that the vessel did not possess a valid New Jersey Lobster Permit. A summons was issued for failure to possess a valid New Jersey Lobster Pot Permit.

01/06/13 CO's Klitz and Scott were on patrol in the vicinity of the Manasquan Inlet. As they waited for incoming commercial vessels, they noted one vessel coming toward the inlet. This vessel stopped about a mile offshore and drifted for several hours. The CO's felt this was odd as they could not see any scallop gear or activity suggesting they may be shucking scallops before coming into port. The vessel had not called the marine office for a summer flounder trip offload. When the vessel finally made its way into the inlet, the CO's met it at the Point Pleasant Fishermen's Dock Cooperative located in Point Pleasant Beach. CO Klitz spoke with the Captain and checked the vessel's permits. It was discovered that the vessel did not possess a New Jersey Summer Flounder permit for the gear (otter trawl) being used on this trip. During this time CO Scott began to check the vessel's catch and found 18 undersize monkfish and 26 undersize monkfish tails. During the offload CO Scott entered the hull and found that much of the vessel's catch was beginning to decay. The Fishermen's Dock Cooperative only accepted 707 pounds of summer flounder that were caught the day prior. The entire catch of decaying summer flounder and scup were offloaded so that the weights could be recorded. There were a total of 1,590 pounds of scup and 4,394 pounds of summer flounder. This case also has an ongoing investigation concerning the boats' whereabouts prior to landing in NJ. The state of Massachusetts was contacted and became extremely interested in the CO's findings during their inspection. The case of possibly landing in the State of Massachusetts during a closed season is ongoing by the Massachusetts Environmental Police. Summonses for the gear violation and undersize monkfish and monkfish tails were issued in NJ.

On 01/13/13, CO's Klitz and Soell performed an inspection of the party boat hailing out of Brielle, Monmouth County. The vessel was on an overnight jumbo black sea bass trip. As the patrons made their way to their vehicle's the CO's performed fisheries inspections. The CO's were only able to check a small portion of the patrons at they exited the vessel. CO Soell issued a summons to a patron for possessing 5 black sea bass over the daily limit of 15 and CO Klitz issued a summons to a patron possessing 22 black sea bass over the daily limit.

On 12/07/12, CO Klitz was on patrol in Neptune Township, Monmouth County. As he approached the Bry's Marina boat ramp he noted a recreational fishing boat being placed on a trailer at the ramp. He was speaking with several fishermen while waiting for this boat to be pulled out so a fisheries inspection could be performed. While CO Klitz was pre-occupied with the other fishermen, the owner of the vessel at the ramp immediately drove his boat and trailer away without fully securing the boat to the trailer. CO Klitz got back in his vehicle to see where the man was taking the boat. While driving behind the trailer CO Klitz could see the GPS plotter was still on and running along with other electronics on board the vessel. The driver pulled into a local gas station and CO Klitz performed a fisheries inspection at the station. CO Klitz found 12 tautog on board, which is 6 over the daily limit. A summons was issued for possessing over the daily possession limit of tautog.

On 12/2/12, at approximately 1700 hours, CO Soell inspected two fishermen at their vehicle outside of Barnegat Light State Park who possessed legal tautog. CO Soell then proceeded to leave the area and head off the island. On his way out of town, he saw a man and a woman wearing backpacks standing by the side of the road. As he passed he noticed the man start to take his backpack off. CO Soell quickly stopped and backed up to their location. At this point CO Soell got out of his vehicle and told them not to get rid of their backpacks. The backpack contained three, undersized tautog. As CO Soell was measuring these fish, the vehicle that had just been inspected at Barnegat Light State Park, drove by and slowed down. The vehicle went around the block and slowed to a stop to possibly wait for the two people that were currently being inspected. A summons for possessing undersized tautog was issued to the man with the short fish. CO Soell did confirm the previously inspected vehicle was in fact waiting for the two individuals with the backpacks.

On 10/21/12, CO Soell issued two summonses to an individual at Barnegat Light. One for 26 over the limit tautog and another for 24 undersized tautog. The court date was scheduled for December 3, 2012, the opening day of six day firearm season. CO Soell called the court a week before the court date and advised them he was not available for court due to a reassignment for the deer/bear season. The court clerk advised CO Soell they would wait to see how the individual would plead on the day of the court. CO Soell spoke to the court clerk after the court date to ascertain if they had rescheduled the case to another day. The court clerk advised that the individual had pleaded guilty to all charges and he was charged the full amount for the summonses, $1500.00 plus costs.

District 7 COs were vigilant in the enforcement of the emergency shellfish closure after Super storm Sandy with dozens of recreational clammers turned away from the seasonal harvest areas in the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers in Monmouth County. Hundreds of contaminated clams were returned to the water.

During the second week of December, CO Scott attended a one-week Armorer training course in Virginia for the M14 and AR15 rifles. This is a very technical and intensive class. CO Scott is now a certified armorer for these patrol rifles.

On 11/28/12, Lt. Dravis, COs Moscatiello, Soell, Scott, and two undercover District 8 COs acted on information that a mate aboard a party boat vessel located in Monmouth County was filleting undersized black sea bass for various patrons. An undercover operation was arranged and while the reported violation did not occur on this trip, a large number of patrons were found to be in possession of undersized black sea bass during the inspection. Many of the patrons drove a great distance, some from as far away as Washington DC, to fish on this boat. Over 30 fish were seized and summonses for possession of undersized black sea bass were issued to several patrons. It was also observed by the undercover officers that the vessel fished in federal waters where the black sea bass season was closed. That information was turned over to National Marine Fisheries Service agents.

On 12/2/12, COs Scott and Moscatiello traveled to Bergen and Passiac Counties to perform fisheries compliance inspections on random fish markets and restaurants. Six establishments were inspected and several violations were uncovered. All possessed several whole lobsters measuring less than 3 3/8" carapace length which were imported into New Jersey from Maine, where the legal size is 3 1/4". Based on information gathered from these inspections, additional businesses were inspected and more violations were found. In total, several dozen undersized lobsters were seized and returned to the Maine wholesaler responsible for the initial sale of these sublegal lobsters to the New Jersey dealers. A small sample of the lobsters was retained as evidence. Summonses were issued to the businesses for possession of undersized lobsters.

Earlier this fall, COs Klitz, Moscatiello, and Scott acted on information given to CO Klitz in regards to four individuals that were reportedly taking undersized and over limit tautog off the Manasquan Inlet Jetty. CO Scott set up a surveillance position across the inlet on the Point Pleasant Beach side while COs Klitz and Moscatiello remained out of sight several blocks away. CO Scott was able to identify the suspects that were still fishing on the end of the jetty. About an hour and a half later the suspects began to pack up and walk off the jetty. As the group got closer to the parking lot they split into two groups of two men each. The first two men walked slowly towards the parking lot carrying only a plastic bag that appeared very heavy and one fishing pole and a tackle box. The second group stopped and watched the parking lot. As the first two men exited the jetty they placed the plastic bag in the garbage can and continued walking toward their vehicle. CO Scott relayed this information to COs Klitz and Moscatiello and they began to slowly respond to the area. Realizing the coast appeared to be clear; the second group began to walk off the jetty carrying their cooler and the rest of the fishing gear. As the second group cleared the jetty, one of the men dug into the garbage can and retrieved the same plastic bag the first group left in there. CO Scott called in COs Klitz and Moscatiello, who identified the men immediately and were able to quickly approach them for a fisheries inspection. The inspection resulted in a seizure of over a dozen illegal fish and all of their fishing gear. Furthermore, as the CO's were attending to this group, additional fisherman were now coming off the jetty and walking directly towards them. CO Scott assisted with more inspections and a total of ten summonses were issued for both possession of undersized and over limit tautog.

On 12/18/12, CO Scott apprehended four fishermen in possession of 16 illegal striped bass in the Sea Bright area of Monmouth County. The striped bass measured from 14 inches to 19.5 inches total length. Summonses were issued to all of the fishermen for possession of undersized striped bass.

On 12/5/12 CO Scott contacted CO Moscatiello with information he received about undersized stripers being taken in Sea Bright. CO Moscatiello signed on duty and responded to the area. CO Scott called CO Moscatiello while he was en route and advised him that one group of fisherman was leaving. CO Moscatiello contacted the Sea Bright Police Department and was able to have officers respond and hold the men until he arrived. During the inspection CO Moscatiello located 13 undersized striped bass in the trunk of the vehicle. During this inspection, CO Scott contacted CO Moscatiello to inform him that the men had hidden a bag full of short striped bass under a stairwell, and had also thrown a bag of stripers on top of the sea wall when the police turned their backs to the men. The bags were retrieved and a total of 27 striped bass were located between the hidden bags and the trunk of the vehicle. One of the Sea Bright officers then stated that he believed a man still fishing on the other side of the wall had buried fish. CO Moscatiello looked over the wall and observed two men on the beach one of which was walking with two heavy bags back to the rock wall. After the man walked back to his fishing gear CO Moscatiello conducted a routine inspection at the waterline. The man stated they had no fish, and upon questioning of the bags being carried to the wall, he had no recollection. The CO was then able to follow the footprints in the sand back to the wall and located two bags with a total of 10 undersized striped bass. There was a total of 37 undersized striped bass between the two groups. Three fishermen were issued summonses for both possession of several undersized and over limit striped bass. The penalty is $100 per illegally possessed striped bass.

On 12/5/12, CO Moscatiello conducted a follow up inspection of a dealer that had reportedly sold undersized lobsters (carapace length measuring less than 3 3/8") to a local restaurant that CO's Scott and Moscatiello had recently inspected. Upon inspection of the dealer the CO located 19 undersized lobsters. The dealer was issued a summons for possession of undersized lobsters.

Between 12/5/12 and 12/14/12, CO Moscatiello conducted several patrols specifically looking for striped bass violations in the Sea Bright area. During this time CO Moscatiello inspected twelve striper fishermen which yielded a total of 16 summonses for undersized and over limit striped bass.