Jail Time, Fines and Suspensions for Pair Mississippi Men Busted With Trophy Deer in Ohio

In a case that was without any regard for the law, a pair of Mississippi men have been brought to justice for a slew of egregious poaching charges. 

According to a release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, they have successfully got their men dead to rights in a case where the defendants seemingly did absolutely all they could to ignore the law. The string of incidents, which took place throughout southeast Ohio, involved everything from night hunting and using the aid of motor vehicles to trespassing and failing to have any form of a license.

The proceedings took place earlier this month at multiple courthouse locations with judges taking their turns handing down the two men their fate. 

First up was 25-year-old Dawson Brown of Poplarville, Miss., who pleaded guilty to seven different charges while sitting in a Belmont County Court. Stemming from the illegal killing of several whitetails, the charges included hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle, hunting deer with a firearm during the archery season, hunting outside of legal shooting hours, possessing untagged deer parts, hunting without a nonresident hunting license, hunting without a nonresident deer permit, and spotlighting.

In addition to the charges, given the size of the deer he illegally shot, two of the antler sets were later analyzed for trophy restitution as well. Scoring 166-2/8 and 154-⅝, respectively, Brown was then ordered to pay over $13,000 in restitution along with $865 in fines and court costs for his actions. Outside of the financial penalties, Brown was also served with a three-year hunting suspension and was sentenced to 390 days in jail, with all but 30 days suspended.

He’s also forfeited five firearms, a spotlight, deer meat and four different buck skulls to the DNR.

Heading slightly west of that sentencing, 24-year-old Jase Smith, also of Poplarville, Miss., sat in a Muskingum County Court also awaiting his fate. He soon pleaded guilty to four charges including hunting without permission, hunting without a nonresident deer permit, hunting without a nonresident hunting license, and failing to game check a deer after harvest.

The proceedings didn’t stop there. Smith was still on the hook for an additional charge in Belmont County Court where he entered another guilty plea for possession of untagged deer parts.

All together, Smith was hit with over $2,700 in fines and restitution charges and was sentenced to 90 days in jail across both court sessions. His hunting privileges were also suspended for three years as part of the proceedings and he forfeited his trusty crossbow, spotlights and a trio of deer mounts to the DNR.

The two men were later entered into the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, which will ensure that their Ohio hunting suspension will follow them in damn near every other state they may enter. This agreement, which recognizes both hunting and fishing suspensions across member states, will see to it that these two men also forfeit their privileges across 47 other states, including their home state of Mississippi.