There was a poacher on the loose at the National Bison Range last Thursday. Tiney the deer was a revered animal to the people at the range, especially to photographers. On Thursday, the fake deer was found dead, headless. After stumping the rangers at the park, kids were called in to see if they could help solve the mystery. 

They interviewed a fisherman that looked suspicious, and found a footprint nearby. A metal detector helped them look for the bullet. After they were done with the fisherman, they talked to a hunter and his wife, who claimed to be lost. They found a bullet casing on the road, and compared it to the hunter’s bullets. They were a match. 

Still, the question remained. Who killed Tiney?

Even though Tiney was a fake deer, and the fisherman and hunter were rangers, the kids at the event on Thursday were learning valuable lessons as they tried to unravel the wildlife mystery. 

Kids went through a few different stations before beginning their investigation. Those stations included identifying tracks, firearm forensics, and others. After that, they were taken to the crime scene.

This was the first year that the National Bison Range has done a wildlife mystery event for their nature day. Molly Swindle, an intern at the range, was one of the people who helped set up the event. “We came up with some ideas and brainstormed some things, then called up other wildlife places for some more ideas,” she said.

Mike Koole, a federal wildlife officer on the range, led the investigation of the death of Tiney. He said he had always like the idea of a murder mystery. “I thought it would be cool if we could teach them a little bit about what we do, and hopefully get them interested in potentially becoming a game warden,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done it so we are kind of working out the kinks as we go.”

Koole doubled as the fisherman, who, by the way, was innocent of the crime. As it turned out, it was the hunter, with a gun, from the road.