There is a long history in Washington State of game agents using decoy deer to entice hunters into breaking the law. In the past, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has defended this practice by claiming that enforcing game laws is too difficult if agents are left to randomly hope to catch someone in the act. Typically, when WDFW sets up a decoy, it is placed near a roadway around dusk or just before dawn. The agents hope to catch someone shooting from the roadway, hunting after hours, or spotlighting (as I discuss here, spotlighting is often claimed to be the use of car headlights).
To some, it doesn’t seem quite fair to entice hunters with a decoy deer. However, courts typically reject any claims from defense lawyers that the practice amounts to entrapment. The courts view deer decoys as merely providing an opportunity to break the law, rather than unfairly entrapping hunters.
Modern decoy deer are remarkably lifelike, as they are essentially taxidermized deer. These decoys have remote-controlled heads and tails that can accurately simulate real deer movements, and their eyes are reflective. The punishment for shooting a decoy can be significant. In addition to fines and court fees, a defendant is often held liable for any damage done to the decoy and the costs of repairs. After a decoy is shot numerous times, it is eventually decommissioned.
During a decoy operation, WDFW agents can come across as aggressive. Setting up a decoy is dangerous work, as agents hide in proximity to incoming fire. They often experience an adrenaline rush when they emerge from hiding to cite the offender. Sometimes, a hunter will arrive and begin firing before the agents are fully in place. In at least one instance, a hunter accidentally shot a game agent who was hiding in the brush. The hunter, seeing the decoy after dark, looked more closely with his thermal optic and scanned for a heat signature, ultimately shooting at the game agent instead. The decoy itself, of course, had no heat signature.
In our firm’s experience, we have seen game agents handle numerous cases per day with the same decoy. Through public records requests, we have caught agents reusing reports, simply changing the names of the participants. A diligent defense lawyer will make public records requests for all reports from the days in question, including any video taken of the incident.
Shooting a deer decoy is not a crime in and of itself. A crime is committed if someone does not have the necessary tags, is in the wrong game management unit (GMU), fails to wear hunter orange, hunts after hours, shoots from the roadway, possesses a loaded firearm in the vehicle, or cannot lawfully possess the firearm.