Two Iowa men, charged with shooting trumpeter swans on the first day of duck hunting season, say they didn't do it; and that they are now getting threats over the incident.
"I'm very concerned. I'm concerned something's going to happen to my family over this." said Kyle Munson of Eldridge.
Munson and Levi Young are both charged with shooting one swan and wounding another at the Princeton Wildlife Area in Scott County. The birds are a protected species.
"Neither of us shot these swans," said Munson.
"Bottom line. We didn't do it." said Young.
Both men are 25 years old and life-long hunters.
"We were shooting at ducks in front of us in open water. There was one hunter out there that says he watched us as they were flying toward the back side of us, and says he watched us stand up and shoot. These things never even came close enough to shoot at," said Young.
But the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it has statements from at least four other hunters, who were in the marsh that day, that point the finger at the pair.
Munson and Young say they are getting threats online and on the phone since their names were made public after the incident Saturday, October 3, 2015.
"We're getting threats about shooting these birds and it ranges from getting our teeth kicked in to we better watch our backs and getting phone calls at 2 in the morning from unknown numbers," said Munson.
The pair right now face up to $3,000 in fines apiece.