Four Arrested for Hunting Violations at Sedgwick Reserve

Serving notice that they intend to enforce a strict ban on hunting at the Sedgwick Reserve, UC Santa Barbara police officers arrested four men for violating hunting laws last weekend.

The 5,900-acre Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley is managed by UCSB for the University of California. The reserve is used year-round by university researchers, students, schoolchildren, and others. Hunting is banned all year at the reserve.

On Saturday, the first day of deer-hunting season, two men were arrested near a gate along Figueroa Mountain Road, according to UCSB Police Sgt. Daniel Massey. One of the men was dragging a dead deer as he approached the reserve gate, Massey said. The second suspect was arrested after fleeing the area in his vehicle.

The suspects, from the Los Angeles area, were arrested for hunter trespassing, lack of hunting licenses, no deer tags, illegal method of take (using a .22-caliber firearm), and use of lead ammunition, which is banned in the condor-protected area of the Los Padres National Forest. A portion of the Sedgwick Reserve is in the condor area.

Both were cited and released and the gun they used was confiscated.

"Interestingly, they parked in front of a gate that had three different signs on it saying ‘No Hunting' and/or ‘No Firearms,' " Massey said. "They admitted to seeing and understanding the signs."

On Sunday, UCSB Police, working with California Department of Fish and Game officers, arrested two more suspects in the Sedgwick Reserve on similar charges. A man from Pauma Valley, Calif., was arrested for hunter trespassing and shooting from a roadway. The other man, from Los Angeles, was arrested for hunter trespassing, no hunting license, no deer tag, illegal method of take, and use of lead ammunition.

Both were cited and released and their guns were confiscated.

"We are very serious about enforcing this ban on hunting in Sedgwick Reserve," Massey said. "And people need to know that not only are we enforcing it during hunting season, we're there all year."

The Sedgwick Reserve is one of seven natural reserves managed by UCSB. The University of California is responsible for oversight of 35 reserves throughout the state.