A Smithville man was cited Friday after illegally killing a black bear which had wandered onto his property near the Old Snow Hill Road.
Jim Beshearse will soon make a court appearance on the citation.
The bear was spotted by several other people in DeKalb County Thursday evening and Friday morning including the areas of Patterson Road, Short Mountain Highway, Robinson Road, and Dry Creek Road. It may have been the same bear seen in the Rock Island area of Warren County Wednesday.
Jeff Crips was among those who saw the bear Friday morning. Crips told WJLE that the bear crossed in front of him on Short Mountain Highway near Smithville as he was driving to work enroute to Woodbury after 7 a.m.
Chad Buchanan and his wife, who live on Dry Creek Road in Smithville, spotted the bear and he took a photo of it (shown above) at 9:15 a.m. in a soybean field near his home.
“We heard the dog barking and looked to see what the dog was barking about. We happened to look up and there was a big bear. We watched as it went off into the woods”
Friday afternoon, the TWRA issued the following prepared news release concerning the killing of the bear:
“Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officer Tony Cross was off duty when he responded to a call concerning shots fired in an area where a transient, male black bear had been spotted earlier. Wildlife officer Cross quickly found the bear and shooter near Old Snow Hill Road in Smithville, DeKalb County.
Wildlife officer Cross stated, “This isn’t the kind of day I like.” Cross, a 24 year veteran with TWRA, believed the man had no intent of killing a bear when he left his house. “I think he just shot before he thought of another solution,” shared Cross. However, state laws were violated and the man was charged with shooting big game outside of the season. Additionally, there is not an open season for black bear in DeKalb County”.
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