Men Guilty of Bear Baiting in Cherokee National Forest Lose Hunting Privileges

Five men have been fined and banned from hunting or entering any national forest as a result of a bear baiting investigation by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and USDA Forest Service.

Monroe County Wildlife Officers and USDA Forest Service Officers from the Cherokee National Forest have closed a bear baiting case. The Forest Service and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency work closely when dealing with issues on the South Cherokee Wildlife Management Area, which is part of the Cherokee National Forest. 

How the Bear Baiting Case Began

A bear baiting site was located and documented in 2016 in the Cherokee National Forest, South Cherokee WMA. It is illegal to place bait on a WMA and to hunt any big game over bait anywhere in the state of Tennessee. 

In 2018, another illegal bear baiting site was located that was almost identical to the one documented in 2016. Wire was strung around five feet high between two trees. Plastic grocery bags were tied along the wire and the bags were filled with a mixture of chocolate candies and at times meat product. Sardine cans and carcass remnants were also nailed to trees within the bear baiting site.

TWRA and Forest Service officers also discovered a large baited steel cage trap in mid-2018. Trees had also been cut to make a trigger for the steel cage trap. Officers determined five different individuals had hunted, placed bait, installed and checked the trap at this site. Wildlife Officers were able to identify the five individuals, and later in the year a sixth individual, as:

• Terry Worth McJunkin, 37
• Keith Bernard McJunkin, 59
• Rollie Kimsey West, 41
• Levi Zachary Wilson, 31
• Joseph Don Taylor, 38
• Derrick F. Cathey, 32

All individuals are from Tellico Plains, Tenn.

Wildlife Officers, along with the dedicated determination of the US Attorney’s Office, determined that evidence was conclusive enough for prosecution in federal court. Officers confiscated illegal bait, the large steel cage trap and trail cameras at the site.

Terry Worth McJunkin, Keith Bernard McJunkin, Rollie Kimsey West, Levi Zachary Wilson, Joseph Don Taylor and Derrick Franklin Cathey were charged with wildlife crimes ranging from hunting over bait, placing bait on Wildlife Management Area, hunting big game in closed season, trapping in closed season, destroying government property and maintaining a trail on National Forest system land. 

On September 4, 2019, the Honorable H. Bruce Guyton, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge, found Keith Bernard McJunkin and Levi Zachary Wilson guilty of baiting bears inside the Cherokee National Forest. Each defendant was sentenced to 2 years of probation and banned from hunting anywhere or entering any national forest for a period of 2 years. Keith McJunkin was also ordered to pay $1,600 in fines, and Levi Wilson was ordered to pay $1,100 in fines.

Keith McJunkin and Levi Wilson were two members of a group of hunters who baited and trapped bears inside the Cherokee National Forest in July and August of 2018. Others hunters in the group, Terry Worth McJunkin, Joseph Don Taylor, and Derrick F. Cathey, each previously pleaded guilty to hunting bear over bait. Terry McJunkin was sentenced to 5 years of probation with a 5-year hunting ban and 5-year national-forest ban and ordered to pay $4,000 in fines. Joseph Taylor and Derrick Cathey were each sentenced to 2 years of probation with a 1-year hunting ban and 1-year national-forest ban. Joseph Taylor was also ordered to pay $3,000 in fines and $250 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service. Derrick Cathey was ordered to pay $250 in fines.

“All officers involved are to be commended for stopping this illegal, poaching activity,” said Officer Kip Kite. “We’re grateful for the tremendous partnership with the Forest Service and we are determined to continue efforts to halt all poaching, illegal activity on all our Wildlife Management Areas and National Forest lands. We’re grateful for the Department of Justice and US Attorney’s Office for their effort in prosecuting wildlife cases.”

Report Illegal Hunting to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Anyone with information about illegal hunting is urged to call the TWRA Poaching Hotline from 7 a.m. until 12 midnight, seven days a week.

• West Tennessee (Region 1) – 1-800-831-1173
• Middle Tennessee (Region 2) – 1-800-255-8972
• Cumberland Plateau (Region 3) – 1-833-402-4699
• East Tennessee (Region 4) – 1-800-831-1174

TWRA offers a reward up to $1,000.00 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of wildlife poachers. In addition to the reward offered by the TWRA, the Tennessee State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation offers up to a $300 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals poaching wild turkeys.

Information such as the individual’s name or description, vehicle tag number or description, nature of the offense and location of the offence greatly assists the TWRA in apprehending wildlife poachers. All information received by TWRA is kept in the strictest confidence.

TWRA is funded almost entirely by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, and the state’s portion of the Pittman Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act that collects an excise tax on the sale of firearms, archery equipment and ammunition to help fund wildlife conservation in the United States. The agency receives no tax revenue funding from the state budget.

Feature photo: Monroe County Wildlife Officers Joe Pike and Kip Kite after seizing illegal steel trap.