SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. (AP) - The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is honoring 1 of its conservation rangers for a poaching investigation that yielded charges against nine suspects who paid more than $4,800 in fines.
Cpl. James Keener of Pickens County was named "investigative ranger of the year," a title awarded each year by the state agency's Wildlife Resources Division.
Officials say Keener was dispatched to look into a complaint in Pickens County of hunters using spotlights and firing at night. He ended up building a case against nine hunters charged with 53 violations that included killing deer at night, exceeding game limits, hunting from a vehicle and along a public road. Hunters were also charged with killing a cow and were ordered to pay $800 in restitution.
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