Poached Buck Recovered By DNR Law Enforcement

There will be one less Fab-40 caliber buck on the prowl in Jasper County this fall after a giant 9-pointer was poached in a pecan orchard on Fellowship Church Road early in the morning of Sept. 28.

On Wednesday, Oct. 1, DNR Ranger Freddie Hays received information that a Jasper County buck had been poached by David Wicks, 20, and Hunter Jones, 18, both from Jackson.

“The informant stated he had seen pictures and text messages that Wicks had killed the deer at night with a .22-250 caliber rifle,” Hays reported in his DNR incident report.

“When I interviewed Wicks, he confessed to shooting a deer from a vehicle on Sunday, Sept. 28 at approximately 2 a.m. in Jasper County. Wicks stated they were in Hunter Jones’ truck and that Greer Pope (18) had assisted with dragging the deer to Jones’ truck. Wicks stated Jones held the spotlight while he shot the deer. Wicks then provided me with the cape, antlers and the head of the deer… Wicks was asked to retrieve the meat from the deer, and he did. Wicks provided me a written statement of the accounts that took place.”

Hays then met up with Jones and Pope. Prior to speaking with them, Hays learned that Jones may have poached a Jasper County deer in March 2013. Hays first asked Jones about the illegal buck Wicks had confessed to killing.

“Jones stated that he had only driven the truck, and that Wicks was the one that shot the deer from his vehicle,” said Hays.

Pope and Jones provided Hays with written statements of the accounts that took place on Sept. 28.

“I asked Jones if he shot a deer in March of 2013 on Faulkner Road in Jasper County. Jones stated that he had shot a deer from his vehicle and from the road at night on Faulkner Road in Jasper County in March of 2013,” said Hays.

All three men were charged with hunting from a public road, hunting deer at night and hunting big game from a motor vehicle. Jones received an additional charge of hunting deer at night for the incident in March 2013.

Freddie said he’s not an expert scorer, but he put a tape on the deer and got more than 170 inches gross. The buck will likely be mounted by DNR and then put on display. After the required 60-day drying period, it will be officially scored and enter GON’s county-by-county rankings as an illegal kill.