CANYON CITY – Two 17-year-old boys were arraigned Feb. 4 in Grant County Justice Court in connection with the poaching of deer last November.

The boys, of Mt. Vernon and John Day, were charged with suspicion of wasting wildlife, taking deer during closed season, hunting deer using prohibited methods, hunting on the cultivated or enclosed lands of another and illegal possession of deer parts.

They are scheduled to enter pleas on March 18.

The arrests came after a seven-week investigation by Oregon State Police Trooper Marv Ritter into the shooting of five deer, three bucks and two does, over several days in late November.

Ritter said the deer were killed on private property – the does on land northwest of Mt. Vernon, and the bucks east of John Day and south of U.S. Highway 26.

Police determined that the deer had been shot, the antlers of the bucks were removed, and the bodies left to waste. The antlers were recovered during the investigation.

The poaching investigation led Ritter to a separate probe into a series of burglaries.

Police subsequently charged a 16-year-old boy from John Day and the two other teens in connection with the burglaries.

The 16-year-old was accused of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, third-degree theft, and criminal trespassing.

The 17-year-olds were charged with first-degree burglary, second-degree theft, third-degree theft, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief.

All three are scheduled to be arraigned in that case March 6 in Grant County Juvenile Court.