Conservation Law Enforcement Corner – March 2025
The Conservation LE Corner is designed to highlight the efforts of Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division (LED) officers who, among their many duties, protect Georgia’s wildlife, sportsmen and natural resources from game-law violators.
Douglas County: On Oct. 9, 2022, Game Warden Chandler Traylor and Cpl. Brock Hoyt responded to a hunting without permission complaint off of Big A Road and Kilroy Lane in Douglas County. Previously, Cpl. Zack Hardy and officer Traylor had set up a trail camera to monitor illegal hunting activity on this private property.
According to the DNR incident report, at approximately 6 a.m., Traylor received a trail-camera picture of an individual walking to his tree stand with what appeared to be a rifle on a sling over his shoulder. Rifle season for deer did not open until Oct. 22 that year, which would mean he was hunting out of season along with hunting without permission.
“Cpl. Hoyt and I arrived on scene at approximately 0740 hours (7:40 a.m.),” Traylor said in the incident report. “We made contact with the subject, Tracy Southerland, at approximately 0800 hours.”
Southerland was 48 years old and living in Winston at the time of the incident.
“We instructed Mr. Southerland to climb out of his stand. I then conducted a frisk pat down for any weapons, while Cpl. Hoyt climbed up in Mr. Southerland’s stand and discovered a black Savage rifle with a Vortex scope, a camo bag, and a camo satchel. The bag and satchel had a strong odor of marijuana. Cpl. Hoyt asked Mr. Southerland if he was able to possess a firearm, and he said no because he was a convicted felon.”
According to the incident report, Cpl. Hoyt performed a probable cause search and found a bag of marijuana in Southerland’s bag.
“Mr. Southerland then told us that someone else was hunting on the ridge next to him,” Traylor wrote in the report. “I walked about 100 yards up the hill to find another suspect, Tim Jones, in a tree stand also hunting without permission. Mr. Jones had a wooden stock Savage .22 caliber long rifle and a can of Buck Bomb. Both Southerland and Jones were hunting over a feeder with corn in it.”
Jones, 51 years old at the time, of Douglasville, was also a convicted felon.
“Cpl. Hoyt placed Mr. Jones into handcuffs, and I read both of them the Miranda Warning. They were both verbally aware of their rights at that time. I walked both suspects back to the dirt road where I met Sgt. Eric Brown. Both suspects were transported back to Big A Road in Sgt. Brown’s truck.
“Both Southerland and Jones were complaining of injuries. Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and EMS were called, and they were both treated for injury. Both suspects were cleared by EMS for transport to the jail,” Game Warden Traylor wrote in the incident report. “While I started on handling paperwork, Cpl. Hoyt searched Southerland’s satchel. Cpl. Hoyt discovered a quarter-sized rock that appeared to be methamphetamine in a green Seneca menthol cigarette box, a small bag of marijuana, and a zip lock bag of approximately a dozen marijuana buds.”
Both men were transported by Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies to the Douglas County jail. DNR retained possession of the firearms to be logged into evidence due to the convicted felon status of both men.
On Jan. 11, Game Warden Drew Weathersby was named the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year at the Georgia Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation’s annual awards banquet in Forsyth. Pictured (left to right) Lt. Bubba Stanford, GW Weathersby and GA NWTF Chapter President Greg Brown.
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