State Fish and Game officers arrested a pair of Sacramento men in El Dorado County on suspicion of deer poaching after nabbing the men inside their blood-soaked sport-utility vehicle, their freshly killed quarry in tow.

Scott Lee, 46, of Sacramento, and Nai Saechao, 32, of Sacramento were arrested Sunday by Fish and Game officers on what were described as numerous hunting related violations, including poaching and felony animal cruelty. They were taken to El Dorado County jail.

El Dorado County sheriff's officials said the men felled the deer with a shotgun blast and dragged it into the SUV, but the deer began to rouse itself and struggle as the men drove away.

One or both of the men, sheriff's officials say, then stabbed the deer to death, covering the pair in blood.

California Highway Patrol dispatchers were first alerted to the grisly find about 2:18 p.m. Sunday by callers who described the two men driving an SUV on Ponderosa Road near North Shingle Road in Shingle Springs with blood dripping from the back of the vehicle.

That brought numerous law enforcement officers to the scene. An El Dorado County sheriff's K-9 unit spotted the speeding SUV heading west on U.S. Highway 50 toward the Sacramento County line, officials said. Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers corralled the car and called Fish and Game officers.

Lee and Saechao posted bond and were released from sheriff's custody, officials said.