How much trouble can you get into for a hunting violation? Probably a lot more than you realize. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is aggressive about enforcing the rules.
While a single offense probably won’t net you jail time, it could cause the agency to revoke your hunting license. If you’re caught hunting anyhow, that’s an automatic 10 days in jail. If you’re caught repeatedly violating hunting regulations or hunting on a revoked license, you could end up with a lifetime hunting ban. Thanks to the Wildlife Violators Compact, that means you’ll permanently lose all hunting privileges in 48 states.
Spotlighting and road hunting are two of the most serious offenses
The TWRA has some leeway in how it chooses to prosecute hunting offenses and what penalties it will ask for if someone is caught. While no hunting violation is treated lightly – whether that involves hunting a species out of season, exceeding the bag limits for a given day, hunting nongame species or protected species or failing to wear “blaze orange” when required – two of the most serious offenses involve spotlight and road hunting.
Spotlighting takes place at night and it basically involves using a high-powered lamp to find and momentarily stun deer and other nocturnal animals. Road hunting just involves slowly driving rural roads to look for game and shooting what they can find. Both are illegal for safety reasons.
In general, spotlighting is regarded as dangerous because it leaves the hunter almost as blind as the targeted animal. While the deer or other animal may freeze in the light, the hunter can’t see what might be on the other side of the animal – and that could lead to tragedy.
Road hunting is often combined with poaching. While the hunter technically isn’t trespassing (until they go to retrieve their kill), they are firing onto someone else’s land, and anything that they kill is being taken illegally. In addition, road hunters run the risk that they’ll accidentally shoot the property’s owner, tenant or someone else who happens to be in the area.
If you’ve made a mistake while hunting, don’t compound it. There’s a lot at stake. The wisest thing you can do is to invoke your right to remain silent until you can seek legal guidance.