Georgia hunter sentenced for illegally killing mule deer in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Georgia hunter was sentenced in federal court on Friday for illegally shooting a mule deer in Lincoln County in 2020.

Chad McCullough, 34, of Georgia violated the Lacey Act when he took parts of the deer to Georgia to be taxidermized.

The Lacey Act bans the trafficking of wildlife or plants that were illegally taken, possessed or sold.

Officials determined that in October 2020, McCullough traveled to Nobel Outdoors, a commercial big game business in North Platte, with two other hunting partners.

The group was going to go on an archery mule deer hunt.

During the hunt, McCullough shot the deer with a rifle while in the passenger seat of a vehicle that was parked on the side of a public road.

The rifle was provided by the company’s owner, who told McCullough to kill the deer despite knowing that only archery equipment was authorized.

Under Nebraska state law, shooting from the road, taking deer with a firearm during archery season and hunting on property without landowner permission is prohibited.

As part of his conditions of probation, McCullough will surrender and abandon the taxidermy mounts and other parts originating from a total of two mule deer taken unlawfully during the hunt.

This was the third federal sentencing in the ongoing prosecutions related to violations committed by Noble Outdoors and its owner, associates and clients.

Four additional defendants have pleaded guilty in Nebraska courts.

In total, seven defendants have been sentenced and ordered to pay a total of $37,500 in fines and restitution for violations.

Their charges include the interstate transport of unlawfully taken wildlife, shooting deer from the road, taking deer without a valid permit, taking deer with a firearm during archery season, dumping carcasses in waters of the state, hunting without permission and improperly checking or registering big game.

District Judge John Gerrard sentenced McCullough to two years of probation for unlawful transportation of wildlife in interstate commerce.

He was ordered to pay a total of $9,000 in fines and restitution to the court.

The case was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.