Two area men charged in one of the largest "thrill-kill" poaching cases in the country this year each must pay more than $7,700 in fines, will serve a month in jail, and will be unable to hunt or fish for at least six years.

Josh Kerl, 21, of Portage, and Adam Stalsberg, 22, of Neshkoro, were each sentenced Friday in Columbia County Circuit Court to a total of four years of probation and $2,696 in fines after they pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of illegal deer shining and hunting deer during a closed season, both as party to a crime.

Additionally, Kerl must pay $5,341.80 in citation fines; Stalsberg's citation fines add up to $5,093. Both are in addition to the $2,696 fine for the misdemeanor charges.

Kerl and Stalsberg pleaded no contest to about 20 citations each relating to illegal hunting - violations that include hunting within 50 feet of a road's center, transporting a loaded firearm in a vehicle, damaging natural resources and possessing a protected bird or animal. Twenty additional citations were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Kerl and Stalsberg must each serve 30 days in jail and must pay their citation fines as a condition of their probation, and have their Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources hunting and fishing privileges revoked for a total of six years.

Kerl and Stalsberg are accused of killing mostly small game out of season, including hundreds of rabbits, squirrels and raccoons. They were also accused of killing turkeys, crows, snapping turtles, ducks and protected species of owls, turkey vultures, red-tailed hawks and sandhill cranes.

The two men allegedly killed as many as 600 animals, DNR officials said in May. The incidents occurred between October 2007 and April 2008, according to court records.

Officials went to Silver Lake Apartments in Portage in April, where Kerl was living, and found several animals in a freezer and several dead ducks, authorities said. A .17-caliber rifle, two 12-gauge shotguns and a .22-caliber rifle were also confiscated.

During an interview with DNR wardens, Kerl and Stalsberg reportedly admitted to shining a spotlight from a vehicle in search of deer, and to shooting several deer using a .22-caliber firearm from a vehicle in Columbia County sometime in February or March, according to a criminal complaint.

They pleaded no contest in August to more than 35 tickets each in Marquette County Circuit Court and fines between $8,000 and $9,000 were levied against them, according to Kerl.

The men also had all DNR hunting and fishing privileges revoked for an additional three years.

DNR wardens classified the poaching as "thrill-killing," an activity wardens say is on the rise.

Both men in August admitted to hunting animals, but said they were not "thrill-killers" and did not leave the carcasses to rot. Kerl said he killed the animals to use as food and to help supplement his income.

In May, the Humane Society of the United States said it was the worst poaching case of its type in the nation this year.

sgreen@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3504