A Tennessee man enters a guilty plea to the unlawful poaching of a trophy deer in Kansas in 2024.

 

Kansas Game Wardens first became aware of the case in early 2024, while investigating an unrelated poaching case. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks discovered that a trophy deer had been illegally killed in Miami County, Kansas, and later falsely tagged in Missouri. This led investigators to eventually obtain a warrant for the phone records of the suspect in the case. The data confirmed that the individual had been in Kansas at the time the deer was killed. By late summer 2024, wardens traveled to the Nashville area, where they seized the illegally taken deer. During the investigation, the suspect confessed over the phone to killing the animal in Kansas using a rifle and without the required permit.

 

As a result of the investigation, the suspect was prosecuted in Miami County, Kansas, and recently entered a guilty plea to charges related to the illegal killing of the deer. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, nearly $4,000 in restitution, and $108 in court costs.

 

KDWP enforces state and federal fish and wildlife regulations, boating laws, and public land rules across both private and public lands.