A Tennessee man has been sentenced to prison in Tennessee and a lifetime ban from hunting in the state after illegally killing 15 deer over three years and threatening their owners with a gun, wildlife officials said. It was.
The man was arrested Feb. 22 in East Tennessee’s Hawkins County on charges of using a spotlight to kill a deer, hunting from a vehicle and hunting big game during a closed season, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Pleaded guilty to assault.
In August, he and another person were hunting from a road in Rogersville and used a spotlight to kill a doe and a 7-point buck from their vehicle during a deer hunting closure. When the man confronted the landowner, he pointed his gun at him and threatened to kill him, the agency said.
Pennsylvania man sentenced for using drone to help hunter find deer carcass
They were then stopped by sheriff’s deputies and found to be in possession of spotlights and hunting rifles.
In Tennessee, it is illegal to hunt deer using spotlights at night. According to the agency, the practice involves shining an artificial light onto the deer, which causes the deer to remain still while staring at the light. This allows the hunter to shoot the deer before it runs away.
Deer antlers and other items seized from a suspect are on display in Rogersville, Tennessee, Feb. 27, 2024. (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, via Associated Press)
The state also prohibits shooting, capturing or killing animals from public roads.
After pleading guilty last week, a Whitesburg man was ordered to serve six months of a four-year sentence on the aggravated assault charge and six months each on the closed-season big game hunting charge. The sentences will be executed concurrently, the agency said.
In addition to fines and court costs, he must pay $12,500 in restitution and his hunting privileges have been permanently revoked, the agency said. He also confiscated a spotlight, a muzzleloader, a rifle and a compound bow, as well as deer meat, turkey parts and 14 sets of deer antlers.
He also previously was convicted of poaching in Greene County in 2021 for hunting deer in the spotlight, from public roads and during closures.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Wildlife Conservation Officer Justin Pinkston said in a statement that the man was charged with “unlawfully killing or aiding the killing of 15 deer over a three-and-a-half year period, and poached 20 deer from roads in 2020 alone.” I admitted that I did it.” “Sadly, most of these deer were left lying around and were never recovered.”
