Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents arrested an Oak Grove man for alleged deer hunting violations in Concordia Parish on Jan. 6.
Agents booked Joseph L. Chop, 54, into the Concordia Parish Jail for taking over the limit of deer, possession of illegally taken deer, failing to comply with harvest record requirements and failing to comply with deer tagging requirements.
Agents on patrol around 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 6 near Monterey found two subjects cleaning a deer. After further investigation, the agents found three untagged freshly harvested does.
After further questioning, Chop admitted to killing all three does. A license compliance check on Chop revealed two additional does, of which one was not validated, logged onto the harvest report card portion of the license. This put Chop over the daily limit of one antlerless deer and yearly limit of three antlerless deer.
Possession of illegally taken deer carries a $400 to $950 fine and up to 120 days in jail. Taking over the limit of deer brings a $250 to $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail. Failing to comply with harvest record and deer tagging requirements each carries a $100 to $350 fine and up to 60 days in jail.
Chop may also face civil restitution totaling $4,873 for the three illegally taken deer.
Agents involved in the case are Sgt. Trey Mason and Agent Eric Little.