Two Louisiana men were ordered to pay a total of $38,776 in East and West Feliciana courts in the past week for deer hunting violations that occurred in February of 2016.

Judge Elizabeth “Betsy” Jones of the 20th Judicial District Court in both East and West Feliciana parishes sentenced Devin Wascome, 26, of Slaughter, and Joseph Buhler, 21, of Zachary, to pay fines, fees and court costs, as well as revoke their hunting privileges for five years.

Wascome was ordered to pay $17,231 in East Feliciana Parish and $4,791 in West Feliciana Parish.  He was also forced to forfeit his .17 caliber rifle.  Buhler was ordered to pay $12,560 in East Feliciana Parish and $4,194 in West Feliciana Parish.  The men must also pay a total of $6,498 in civil restitution for the replacement value of the illegally taken deer.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) agents cited Wascome and Buhler on Feb. 10, 2016 for illegal deer hunting violations in East Feliciana, West Feliciana, East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes.

After receiving a complaint about Wascome and Buhler illegally taking deer, agents initiated an investigation.  During the investigation agents found that Wascome and Buhler illegally harvested a deer on Feb. 1 in East Feliciana Parish, Feb. 7 in West Feliciana Parish, and on Feb. 8 in East Feliciana Parish.  Wascome also admitted to illegally shooting a doe on Feb. 4 at night while on foot.

The two men would drive around at night on public roads hunting for deer.  They were cited for taking deer during a closed season and illegal hours, hunting from a moving vehicle, possession of illegally taken deer, taking deer from a public road, intentional concealment of illegally taken wildlife, failing to comply with deer tagging requirements, and discharging a firearm from a public road among other violations.

The two were also cited for illegal deer hunting activities in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes since they admitted to actively hunting those parishes using the same methods they did to harvest the illegally taken deer in East and West Feliciana parishes.  The two men have yet to appear in court in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes.

District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla prosecuted this case for the state in East and West Feliciana parishes.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us atwww.wlf.la.gov. To receive recreational or commercial fishing email and text alerts, signup at http://www.wlf.la.gov/signup.