BEDFORD, Pa. — Three men were charged in Bedford after several dead deer, three of which had their heads reportedly cut off, were found.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission charged Kai Bardell, 22, Edward Ilgenfritz, 27, and Harlan Group, 21, with many offenses for shooting deer illegally in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The investigation began in November 2023 and went on for a while.
They were told about seven dead deer, three of which did not have heads, on November 27, 2023. The charges show that at the start of the investigation, it was thought that a child had killed the deer. When they talked to the teens, they said they had nothing to do with the seven dead deer. During the interview, they finally admitted that they had used Ilgenfritz’s Maryland hunting license to kill a nine-pointed antlered deer in Maryland.
The criminal charge also says that Bardell and Group were named by a minor who said they were driving both men to illegally hunt deer at night while Bardell was drunk. Bardell eventually admitted to killing two deer, but only one because he was so drunk, according to investigators. He also admitted to killing an eight-point deer. He was found to have used a.300 Blackout gun. Later, it was found that this happened more than once, with pictures on the Snapchat app showing proof.
Investigators said that in other cases, game commission officials thought, after looking at photos, that Ilgenfritz killed a deer behind his house while having it mounted in Europe. They went to Ilgenfritz’s house and saw that he had set up something to attract deer, which is against the law in a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) zone. Ilgenfritz is accused of admitting that he used lures like “Buck Jam” and “Trophy Rock” and that’s where he killed a 10-point buck.
Ilgenfritz is also said to have said that he and Group had gone into Maryland at night, killed several Sika deer illegally, and brought some of them back to Pennsylvania, which is also illegal in a CWD zone.
Investigators found that Ilgenfritz had a resident hunting pass in both Pennsylvania and Maryland. However, when they searched his home, they found proof that he was living in Maryland at the time of the killings, according to the complaint.
After that, pictures of Bardell were found of him supposedly holding a dead chipmunk, the lawsuit says. The police also said they saw him with a semi-automatic pistol, which is not allowed for shooting in Pennsylvania.
There are a lot of different charges against all three guys, such as unlawful killing, unlawful use of artificial light, and killing big game over the legal limits.
Officials from the Pennsylvania Game Commission have not said what charges may be brought against the nameless teens who may have been involved.
The three men are not charged with any crimes in Maryland for what is thought to be an illegal shooting in that state from court records.
