bronco1 Posted January 5, 2009 Report Posted January 5, 2009 Poachers pay price for duck hunting Eleven plead guilty in Benton County court By Bob Hodge (Contact) Sunday, December 21, 2008 A big poaching case in West Tennessee has ended with those involved paying some big penalties. Eleven of 12 individuals charged with shooting 169 wood ducks - 121 more than the legal two-day bag limit for 12 hunters - have pleaded guilty to shooting over the bag limit and hunting over bait in Benton County General Sessions Court. They were charged during the September wood duck season after one of the individuals showed cell phone pictures of the ducks that had been killed to another hunter. The hunter who saw the photos tipped off the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Seven were fined $669 plus court costs and were required to pay $2,000 in restitution and had their hunting privileges stripped for four years. Five of the seven - Joel Rumsey, Chase Scurlock, Jacob Scurlock, Matthew Warren and Jeff Warren - live in Waverly. Brad Mangrum lives in McEwen and Charles Banes lives in Burns. Bill Mashaw of New Johnsonville and Brian Lee of Waverly lost their hunting privileges for a year, paid $669 in fines plus court costs and have to pay $200 in restitution. Monty Daniel of New Johnsonville will appear in court Jan. 7 and a juvenile involved in the case was sentenced to unsupervised probation until his 18th birthday. "I am satisfied with the case and very pleased with the work officers did to bring these poachers to the court system," said Gary Cook, manager of TWRA's Region I. "In the end we can only do that . . . bring it to the court system." So far Christopher Cole of Camden has paid the biggest price. Cole was a rookie officer with the Jackson Police Department when he was charged, but did not report the incident to his supervisors. He was suspended from his job Nov. 5. He pleaded guilty to two counts of shooting over the limit and hunting over bait Nov. 12 and was fined $400, required to pay $2,000 and was stripped of his hunting privileges for seven years. Two days later he resigned from the police department. After getting the tip, TWRA officers found the men hunting a pond near the Big Sandy River on Sunday, Sept. 14. The pond had been baited with shelled corn. Some of the pictures the poachers took with their cells made their way onto the Internet. Because Tennessee is a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, the men cannot purchase licenses in five of the states bordering Tennessee while their hunting privileges are suspended. Poacher Gets Life: Jimmy Daniel Prater of Waynesboro has been stripped of his hunting privileges for life after his third poaching conviction. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Jones also sentenced Prater to 80 days in jail and he must pay $3,200 in fines and court costs. Prater's offenses include spotlighting deer, hunting in a closed season, falsifying a kill tag and hunting on a revoked license.
westend1 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 Pitiful. what was the fine, like $2.00 per duck?
tvc184 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 Pitiful. what was the fine, like $2.00 per duck? No kidding. The article said they would be paying some big penalties. I guess the author/reporter is making minimum wage..........
Bucof2010 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 No jail time? I'm surprised and disgusted.
643 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Posted February 9, 2009 I'm sure the big penality he was refering to was the loss of lisc for several yrs, this WOULD be huge to me not the money...WW
westend1 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Posted February 9, 2009 These guys will be hunting without a license. Laws weren't meant for them.
tvc184 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Posted February 9, 2009 These guys will be hunting without a license. Laws weren't meant for them. No kidding. They are taking the right to hunt away form people that don't care about the lawful right to hunt.
bronco1 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Posted February 11, 2009 These guys will be hunting without a license. Laws weren't meant for them. No kidding. They are taking the right to hunt away form people that don't care about the lawful right to hunt. I am sure after they are caught 3 or 4 more times they might see some time behind bars.
Lefty99 Posted February 12, 2009 Report Posted February 12, 2009 What gets me is the DU(Ducks Unlimited) Decal on the back glass of the truck...Right behind the passenger seat.
TheGuru0510 Posted February 14, 2009 Report Posted February 14, 2009 What gets me is the DU(Ducks Unlimited) Decal on the back glass of the truck...Right behind the passenger seat. Obviously, they assumed by joining Ducks Unlimited that he could poach unlimited ducks.
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