Three western Minnesota adults and a juvenile could find out the hard way that it's not wise to poach deer in front of the local conservation officer's home.

The four, all from Beardsley in Big Stone County, face fines and restitution totaling nearly $13,000, and their hunting privileges could be revoked for three years. Their two pickup trucks, four shotguns, two spotlights and two poached deer also were seized.

The November incident occurred right outside the home of Department of Natural Resources officer Daniel Baumbarger of Wheaton, who was off duty.

"I just happened to be standing outside and saw a vehicle driving slower than people tend to drive on the roads here," he said. "So I watched it a bit and saw him pull into field approaches using headlights to shine the fields for deer."

Baumbarger went inside, put on his uniform, got in his pickup and followed the vehicle, observing it sweeping farm fields with its headlights before meeting up with a second vehicle parked along a township road.

A Traverse County sheriff's deputy followed one vehicle while Baumbarger followed the other. The occupants of both were eventually confronted.

Jason James Murphy, 22, is charged with shining, transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, discharging a firearm at a deer from the road right of way and having an open bottle in a motor vehicle. Tanner Aric Zych, 20, is charged with shining, transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, having an open bottle in a motor vehicle, and possession and consumption of alcohol while younger than 21. Ryan Jay Murphy, 18, is charged with shining, shooting at deer from the road right of way, having untagged big game and failing to validate a site tag.

And the 16-year-old is charged with shining, transporting an illegally taken deer, shooting a deer from the road right of way and taking deer without a firearms deer license.

A trial date hasn't been set.