Best Of The Week..

Courtesy of inyork.com:

Football player pleads guilty to headless deer prank
Recent Red Land grad Aubrey Moore left the deer carcass at Red Land athletic fields.

A standout football player was charged and pleaded guilty to placing a dressed-up, headless deer carcass at the athletic fields as part of a prank at Red Land High School.

Aubrey Lewis Moore, 18, of Fairview Township, was ordered to pay a $433 fine for unlawful possession of game and failure to secure a permit for a roadkill deer charges filed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Moore was part of a July 9 prank in which he dressed the headless roadkill in a blue graduation cap, white muscle tank top and shorts. He then chained the carcass to the turnstile of high school track, according to game commission officials.

A football from Cedar Cliff High School, the West Shore school district's other high school, was found between the deer's legs, according to game commission officials. The carcass was discovered by the high school football coach and about 20 others who arrived for preseason conditioning, school officials said.

Moore, a recent Red Land graduate, was named to the Associated Press Class AAA all-state football second team as a defensive lineman. He receive that honor the previous year.

Moore pleaded guilty to the charges Monday before York County District Justice Scott Gross.

The head of the eight-point buck was later found at Moore's home, said Jerry Feaser, game commission spokesman. The deer was not shot; it had died after being hit by a vehicle, he said.

Under state law, anyone who wants to claim roadkill must call the game commission for a permit number first, he said.

"The law is there to discourage the misuse of the Commonwealth's natural resources," Feaser said.

The carcass was too far decomposed and had to be disposed of, he said. The head was confiscated, he said.

The Game Commission investigated the complaint at Red Land after an anonymous person reported the incident to Fairview Township police, he said.

Moore placed the deer at the athletic fields as a prank, Feaser said. Similar pranks, though "distasteful," are not uncommon, he said.

Game Commission officials investigated a similar senior prank in Susquehanna Township a few months ago when someone dragged a deer onto a hillside at the school, Feaser said.

"We hear about this from time to time," he said. "For some reason, people like to use roadkill wildlife for pranks."