(Written by me for a daily newspaper.)
By Rick Laney
September 27. 2007
A group of Blount County hunters say two Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officers were hunting bear over a baited area early Wednesday morning.
Wednesday afternoon, TWRA said that four men — including two Tennessee wildlife officers — have been accused of running dogs and hunting near a 20-gallon drum covered with sticks.
Billy Hackler (second from right) and James Sheehan (right) discovered bear bait on Chilhowee Mountain.
Willard Perryman, the TWRA wildlife officer supervisor said, “We did find bait in there. It was a plastic barrel that was buried and half-full of fresh donuts.
“The first TWRA Wildlife officer to arrive, Jeff Pierce, did not participate in the investigation because two of the men are his colleagues.
“We have to decide if we can actually conduct the investigation or if we need to turn it over to an investigator from Nashville because it involves our people.
“If we do the investigation here, the first thing we’ll do is go out and interview the accused.”
TWRA did not identify the accused officers pending the investigation.
The bait was found on property off Montvale Road on Chilhowee Mountain. A drive for off-road vehicles was used to access the area.
Lennie Mason, one of about 25 hunters who saw a truck enter the baited area Wednesday morning, said, “After we saw the truck go in, we started hearing dogs up there.
“We’ve seen game warden trucks going in there before. We called TWRA and everyone we could think of, but it took hours to get anyone out here who would do anything about it.
“The two game wardens and the other two guys who were hunting in the baited area with them took off and left around 10 a.m.
“Hunting over bait is hunting over bait — it doesn’t matter if you’re a hunter or a game warden.”
The hunters said that Billy Hackler and James Sheehan found the barrel and donuts Monday, but didn’t report it until they heard someone hunting near it.
One hunter who reported the baiting incident, 70-year-old Thomas Franklin Lewis, was arrested at the scene by Blount County Sheriff’s deputies and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and interfering with police officers. He was freed at 3:30 p.m. on his own recognizance pending an appearance Oct. 5 in Blount County General Sessions Court.
Witnesses said Lewis was getting ready to leave when deputies pulled him from his truck and handcuffed him.
Bear season (dogs permitted) opened on Monday and continues through Sunday. Bear baiting is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine and loss of a hunting license.
According to Perryman, about 20 people are charged with bear baiting each year in Tennessee, and approximately 30 are charged with deer baiting.
“I’m not aware of any other instance when a wildlife officer was accused of hunting over bait,” Perryman said.
Mason, who was charged on Monday with hunting bear over bait on Chilhowee Mountain, said, “My dogs ran into a baited area and I went after them. They charged me with it just because my dogs ran up the hill.
“I’m starting to think they took my guns so they could sneak over here and hunt over bait with them.”