State officials are cracking down on poachers.
In one recent case, New Mexico authorities say they have seized the head and antlers of a trophy mule deer illegally shot on public land in northwestern New Mexico. In another, a man suspected of poaching in the Jemez Mountains has been arrested for illegal possession of a firearm.
The head and antlers were seized from a Texas hunter recently following an investigation by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department .
In the other case, officials say 33-year-old Freddie Sanchez of Albuquerque was arrested for possessing a stolen firearm and could face several wildlife-law violation charges after conservation officers serving a search warrant discovered parts of a doe mule deer believed to have been illegally killed in late November.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.