Serial poacher ambushed at cemetery

EMBARRASS —It was the afternoon of January 8, 2025, when a GPS tracker pinged on a suspected poacher’s truck. Wisconsin DNR Warden Delzer contacted three other wardens and told them that the suspect was in motion.
Delzer had a suspicion of where the suspected poacher might be going. Three days earlier, he stopped at Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery in Embarrass and found tire tracks, a spray bottle of scent killer and corn kernels on the ground.
Three wardens arrived at the location and one warden dropped off Warden Kernosky and Warden Delzer 190 yards north of the cemetery along State Highway 22. They hiked in and spotted the suspect’s truck and they hid behind a shed 40 yards away.
At 5 p.m., Delzer picked up some motion in the woods east of the cemetery. Then a truck door slammed shut. A dome light turned on. An engine started. Delzer rushed the truck with his flashlight and yelled, “Game warden, stop!”
He recognized the driver, Dylan Wolff, from previous run-ins. Delzer banged on the driver-side window, ordering him to stop.
Wolff reversed away from him and Delzer sprinted along yelling. He caught up to the truck and Wolff turned off the engine. Delzer ordered Wolff to get out and place his hands on the truck as other wardens arrived to assist.
“What are you doing out here?” asked Delzer.
“I was just walking.”

Poaching in five counties
A criminal complaint filed on May 7, 2026 and signed by Warden Kernosky stated, “In total, the investigation revealed that between the dates of 10/15/2024 and 1/8/2026, Dylan Wolff hunted and fished approximately 174 times during his period of revocation. The illegal hunting and fishing activities occurred in Shawano, Oconto, Waupaca, Brown, and Forest counties. Wolff harvested approximately 22 deer and two turkeys, and caught approximately 43 fish. Wolff hunted with a rifle, muzzleloader handgun, shotgun, crossbow, compound bow, and recurve bow.”
Dylan J. Wolff, 27, of Pulcifer, faces eight criminal charges composed of failing to obtain a deer hunting license, hunting deer during a closed season, illegal activity during a license revocation, and felony bail jumping.
Electronic surveillance showed Wolff’s truck parked at the cemetery 11 times between Christmas Eve 2025 and Jan. 8, 2026. The visits often occurred during prime hunting hours, lasting anywhere from an hour to several hours, according to court documents.
At the cemetery, Wolff admitted he had a hang-on treestand and climbing sticks set up in the woods on land owned by Groth Family Farms. Near the stand was a bait pile of corn. At the stand site, wardens recovered a recurve bow, an arrow, and a cocked and loaded crossbow. They also noted older blood stains in the snow directly beneath the stand.
Delzer observed a .270 bolt-action rifle in the backseat through the window. He inspected it and the rifle was loaded with the safety off. One other cartridge was in the magazine.
In the bed of his truck was a nubbin buck (a young male deer with small velvety nubs for antlers). At first he said his mother harvested it. When further questioned, he admitted he shot the deer himself with a crossbow on Groth Family Farms land during the special holiday hunt season and registered the deer under his mother’s tag. At that time, Waupaca County did not participate in the holiday hunt or the extended archery season.