The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks says they have successful closed a wildlife poaching case involving the illegal harvest of a trophy deer in Kansas. The investigation concluded with a guilty plea from a Tennessee man who admitted to unlawfully taking the deer. While investigating an unrelated poaching case in early 2024, Kansas game wardens discovered information indicating that the trophy deer had been killed in Kansas. A photo with GPS coordinates and a timestamp was found on another suspect’s phone, showing the deer was taken in Kansas shortly before the individual submitted an electronic harvest report in Missouri and purchased a Missouri hunting permit. Through the investigation, game wardens uncovered additional evidence that the deer was taken in Miami County, Kansas, before being tagged in Missouri.
Kansas game wardens traveled to the Nashville area, where they seized the deer and later received a phone confession from the individual, who admitted to killing the deer in Kansas with a rifle and without a valid permit. The suspect was prosecuted in Miami County, Kansas, and recently pled guilty to charges related to the illegal take. He was fined $5,000 and must also pay $3,960.50 in restitution and $108 in court costs.
