MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — A Reedsville man faces 46 criminal counts after being accused of illegally shooting more than a dozen deer over nearly seven weeks in rural Manitowoc County.
NBC 26 first reported on the investigation earlier this year.
Luis Rodriguez, 24, was charged on July 30 with 16 counts of illegal shining of deer, 15 counts of obstructing a conservation warden and 15 counts of hunting deer during closed season. The alleged crimes occurred between Dec. 1, 2025, and Jan. 18, 2026.
The investigation began Jan. 2, when the WDNR Confidential Tip Line received a report that someone driving a silver Ram pickup truck had dumped two headless deer carcasses along Hillview Road in Mishicot. The truck's registration traced to Rodriguez's address.
According to the criminal complaint, Rodriguez initially denied hunting in Manitowoc County but later admitted to wardens he had shot multiple deer using his truck's headlights to illuminate them at night, firing from the roadway or from the driver's seat.
"I did all the shining, I did all the shooting, I did all the cutting off the heads and stuff," Rodriguez told wardens, according to the complaint.
The complaint says Rodriguez admitted to shooting at least nine more deer illegally after his initial contact with wardens Jan. 3, returning to the same rural roads just five days later. He also told wardens he falsified harvest registrations, used other people's hunting tags without their knowledge and gave false information to taxidermists where he brought deer heads for mounting.
The complaint further alleges that on Jan. 17 a neighbor recorded video of a vehicle — later linked to Rodriguez — stopping on Gill Road, shining its headlights into a field and firing a single shot. A dead buck was found in the field the next morning. Wardens say Rodriguez admitted he was heavily intoxicated that night, having consumed five 12-ounce cans of beer and four shots of liquor. A neighbor told wardens a bullet had passed through her yard during a separate shooting incident in the same area earlier that week, and the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office was investigating whether a structure was struck by gunfire Jan. 12 in connection with the case.
Wardens seized two rifles, a pistol, a muzzleloader, a bow, a hunting knife, deer antlers and venison meat. A second rifle — which Rodriguez initially claimed was a .22-caliber squirrel hunting rifle — was found in a bathroom closet during a consent search of his apartment, according to the complaint.
Each obstruction count carries a maximum penalty of $10,000 and nine months in jail. Each shining and closed season count carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 and up to six months in jail. Conviction on any count also requires mandatory revocation of all hunting approvals for three years.
Rodriguez is due in court next Thursday.
