Two men charged in the shooting death of an American white pelican last July on Mill Lake in Land O' Lakes pled guilty recently in Vilas County court, paid fines, had hunting and fishing rights revoked for two years with the court ordering the rifle used confiscated.
Neal Paalman, 60 and Jeffrey Paalman, 47 both of Greenville, Wisconsin were charged with a DNR citation of shooting a protected bird after an investigation by Warden Kernosky.
According to court documents, Neal Paalman was the person doing the shooting with a .22 caliber rifle owned by Jeffrey Paalman, who was charged as a party to a crime.
Court filings indicated there were five to six shots from a pontoon boat from 50-75 yards from the pelican with no attempt to get closer to see if the bird was dead.
Jeffrey Paalman paid a fine of $303.30, had his hunting and fishing rights revoked for two years with his rifle ordered confiscated.
Neal Paalman was fined $320.80 and also had his hunting and fishing rights revoked for two years.
