Tennessee Poaching Case Ends With Lifetime Hunting Ban

An investigation sparked by a tip from the general public uncovered a wide-ranging wildlife poaching operation in Center Tennessee that in the end led to responsible pleas and extreme penalties for 2 males, together with a lifetime ban from looking.

Based on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, recreation wardens in Wilson and Rutherford counties started trying into suspected poaching exercise close to the county line within the fall of 2024. The tip prompted wardens to dig deeper, finally figuring out Robert E. Comer and Carson Smith because the people concerned.

Investigators decided the pair had been illegally harvesting white-tailed deer and promoting or buying and selling deer meat, violations that strike on the core of wildlife conservation legal guidelines. Authorities mentioned Comer was already beneath a three-year looking license revocation on the time of the investigation as a consequence of earlier poaching offenses in Tennessee.

Because the case developed, wildlife officers executed a number of search warrants that exposed the size of the exercise. Wardens seized 50 white-tailed deer heads and antlers, together with the top of a wild turkey and an illegally possessed fox squirrel. A rifle, muzzleloader, and crossbow believed to have been used within the violations have been additionally confiscated.

Comer later pleaded responsible to 2 felony counts associated to the possession and trafficking of protected wildlife, together with further costs tied to the unlawful taking of wildlife and looking whereas beneath revocation.

The courtroom sentenced him to 60 days in jail and ordered him to pay $15,000 in restitution, which included penalties related to a previous conviction. He was additionally completely barred from looking, fishing, or trapping and is prohibited for all times from coming into any lands managed or managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Assets Company.

Smith pleaded responsible to a number of wildlife violations, together with unlawful take and possession of wildlife, exceeding statewide large recreation season and bag limits, and failing to correctly tag harvested recreation. His sentence included a three-year revocation of his looking privileges.

Wildlife officers say the case highlights the significance of public involvement in defending Tennessee’s pure assets. The Tennessee Wildlife Assets Company encourages anybody who witnesses or has details about looking or fishing violations to report them by means of the state’s poaching hotline.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning outside journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outside column for the Slidell Impartial Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Outside Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com