A 30-year-old Lafayette man is facing charges for killing a black bear in Concordia Parish. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Lt. Chad Watts says over the Thanksgiving weekend, Christopher Buck, a convicted felon, was booked into jail because he was in possession of a shotgun on the Richard Yancey Wildlife Management Area. Last Sunday a dead black bear was found at that same WMA, so investigators went back and spoke to Buck.
“He was still incarcerated at the Concordia Parish Detention Center, so we went to interview him and during the interview he admitted to illegally shooting a black bear,” Watts said.
Watts says Buck told agents he thought he shot a pig, but investigators didn’t buy that story.
“From where he was standing and where he shot the bear was pretty close, but he said he thought it was a pig,” Watts said.
Watts says the bear was shot in buckshot, which was a critical piece of evidence in their investigation.
“One of the veterinarians performed a necropsy on the bear and found the bear was shot with a buckshot and the suspect we arrested had a shotgun containing buckshot,” Watts said.
Taking a bear during a closed season carries up to a 950-dollar fine and up to 120 days in jail. Buck faces several years in prison because he was a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Sgt. Cole Cupit and agent Andrew Lemoine were also involved in the investigation. LDWF Veterinarian Rusty Berry performed the necropsy on the bear.
The first legal black bear season in Louisiana since 1987 begins Saturday and runs through December 22nd. Only ten hunters have been awarded tags and each hunter can only harvest one bear.
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