Tennessee restitution fees make this one costly trophy.
We have probably all seen a massive buck somewhere we don't have permission to hunt. The difference between us and this guy? We didn't shoot it. This guy did, and now this Tennessee man is facing nearly $10,000 in fines.
On Thanksgiving morning Clarence Robertson of Chattanooga shot a booner, from his driveway. Across a public highway into a field he did not have permission to hunt, because he is a jackass. He then drove his truck into the field to retrieve the deer. Who shoots across a road of any kind?
Luckily the penalties for people poaching big game was recently increased. For a whitetail with 8 to 10 points the fine is $1000 for the animal and $500 per point. That's expensive in of its own, and gets even steeper when the bigger the deer. So if a buck has 11 or more points it's $1000 for the animal and $750 per point. The poached deer in this case was an 11 point buck with a score of 144 inches. Or a score of $9250 in fines.
The judge didn't take the overall score into account for the fees. The judge did tack on a $50 fine and $269 in court fees. When Robertson pleaded guilty, he also forfeited hunting privileges until the fees have been paid. I would have personally like to see the privileges revoked for a fixed length of time, but this works as long as it takes a while to pay it off.
The good news from this story are the deer went to good use. News Channel 9 of Tennessee has reported that the Jefferson County High School FFA Hunters for the Hungry have paid to have the deer processed and then donated. The hide and the rack went back to the owner of the property where the deer was killed.
NEXT: YOU KNOW YOU'RE A MICHIGAN OUTDOORSMAN WHEN...
