A citizen tipster's quick actions while witnessing a thrill-killing case on his land near Poy Sippi has led to two poaching convictions.

Benjamin J. Kobishop, 21, and Christopher H. Schneider, 21, both of Berlin, will lose all their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for three years after their convictions earlier this month on one count each of illegal hunting of deer during the closed season for the March 16 incident, Department of Natural Resources warden Jeff Knorr of Fremont said.

They also were fined $2,113 each, placed on probation for one year each and ordered to serve 40 hours each of community service. Their Marlin .22-caliber rifle and scope were confiscated.

Another count each of illegal deer hunting during the closed season and 10 civil penalties each ranging from hunting game birds and raccoons during the closed season to hunting turkeys with a rifle were read into the court record, but not pursued as part of a Waushara County district attorney's office plea agreement, Knorr said.

The two men were caught with a dead Canada goose and wild turkey in their car's trunk, with the .22 rifle recovered near the scene, after landowner Lee Chase of Fremont witnessed passenger Kobishop shoot at a deer near his home. In Wisconsin, it is illegal to use a .22 rifle at any time to shoot deer, waterfowl or turkeys.

"It's wonderful to have people like that who are willing to do that," Knorr said of Chase. "I've got 200 square miles to cover. The chances of me being right there to catch someone are slim. That's why we count on people."

Knorr said this case is another in the recent string of thrill-killing cases that go beyond mere poaching for venison into the realm of killing just for kicks.

"They shot so many times that they couldn't even keep their story straight," he said. "Let's just drive around for fun and shoot stuff" was their motive, he noted.

Knorr and a Waushara County sheriff's deputy who initially stopped the car after Chase phoned in the tip found 16 empty .22 casings and one live round in the car. Kobishop and Schneider admitted to shooting two deer, one that died and one that survived; and killing at least one crow, one opossum and one raccoon, in addition to the turkey and goose, Knorr said. Virtually all the animals were shot in broad daylight, he added.

Chase said the doe wounded near his home near Tustin suffered a hip injury, and still walks with a limp, but apparently had at least one fawn this spring.

Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London. He can be reached at pcsports@postcrescent.com