An Indiana Conservation Officer was watching when a rural Worthington man allegedly aimed a firearm out of his truck window and shot a hawk on New Year’s Day.

Eldon R. Martin, 28, of rural Worthington, is accused of hunting with the aid of a motorized conveyance and the taking of a migratory bird, both Class C misdemeanors.

Indiana Conservation Officer Greg Swanson saw a silver pickup truck driving slowly westbound on County Road 400 North around 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day before the vehicle turned north on an old coal mining haul road. ICO Swanson said this is an area where he’s received complaints of people shooting from vehicles while hunting. So he turned on the mining road and followed the truck.

ICO Swanson stopped at the top of a hill and watched, through binoculars, the truck maneuvering the road. Then he reported he saw the truck stop, saw a dark object come out of the driver’s side window and then heard a gunshot. The officer drove up to the truck and initiated a stop.

Martin was the driver who told the officer he and his brother were out hunting coyotes. When asked what he had just shot at, Martin allegedly said it was a hawk.

There were five rifles in the truck. ICO Swanson seized a Savage Axis, .223, that was used to shoot the hawk, then he followed the men to their shop to address some minor deer violations that had come to light. Martin was issued two citations.

ICO Swanson then returned to the scene to locate what had been shot and about 100 yards away from where the truck was when the shot was fired, he located tufts of feathers connected with fresh, still moist, flesh. He found blood near a tree but was unable to locate the bird. ICO Jason Sullivan then arrived with his K9 Sky but the K9 was also unable to locate the bird.

ICO Swanson later met with a DNR Nongame Bird Biologist who examined the feathers and although she said it would be hard to identify the body feathers, she was confident the feathers were from some type of hawk and not from any type of game species of bird.

Martin is scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing on February 3.