Gary Kinsland, a 62-year-old University of Louisiana at Lafayette professor, was issued citations for allegedly killing two bears, a mother and her cub, while hunting on the Red River Wildlife Management Area, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported.

LDWF secretary Robert Barham said Kinsland, from Sunset, reported the incident when he returned to the WMA’s check station Nov. 27. The WMA was opened for deer hunting.

“The mother bear had a collar on her so we could monitor her whereabouts,” Barham said. “We moved the mother and her cub to the WMA from the Atchafalaya Basin to help improve the genetics of the two populations of black bear in our state.”

Louisiana’s two black bear populations are in the basin and the Tensas River Basin. The WMA is near the Tensas basin.

Records show Kinsland said he mistook the bears for feral hogs.

“We plan to seek full restitution for these two bears,” Barham said. Restitution is $10,000 for each bear in addition to any charges a state judge would levy on Kinsland should he be convicted.

If convicted, Kinsland faces fines of up to $950 per citation and jail time up to eight months, or both, plus court costs and forfeiture of the 30-.06 caliber rifle agents seized when the citations were issued.

dayyumm.. 10000 bucks a pop. id be takin a better look fo sho next time!

I deal with bears on a regular basis on both of my dear leases.... and both have wild hogs as well. never have I had any trouble distinguishing one from the other.

Either the dude lied, or his eyesight has diminished due to age and he failed to positively ID his target before firing, much less had any idea what was beyond it.... which scares me even more given the fact that I hunt a lot of public land too.

However, I think the penalties he faces are rediculous given the number of bears we have now. $10,000 restitution??? If he could make sum kind of bargain with them and they agreed to let him supply a replacement bear.... I could make him a helluva deal on one. lol

With the numbers of bears we're seeing now.... I truly believe we'll see a seaon on them in our lifetime. I have no desire to kill a bear for sporting reasons, but they do need thinning in my neck of da woods.

I think they should at least take into fact that the guy was honest about it and turned himself in. I relized what he did and came forth with it.

I like bear skin rugs..

First off i wouldn't have made the shots w/o posative ID, but maby he can't see well... or what ever, but i would have shagged azz and never looked back. And after hearing this story i promiss anybody else that makes the wrong pull of the trigger won't tell the truth ever again. Way to beat up honest joe A. Just think all the flack he's gettin at the universtiy with all them tree huggin ba2tards that work there Note: I attended ULL

If it was me and Kingfish we'd take some pics on the bow of the boat and post them here

Thay was not a option at the top fo me to vote on ..

I'm sorry fo the feller that shot and not sure of his shot ... I hope that never happens to me ... altho I once put the shot on a young WoodDuckByrd that came in single to mines plugs rite when time gots leagl .... I ate that byrd !!!!

Since the feller did report his mistake .... I thank some good self-righteous community servess should take care of the re-placement cost and some lite-load fines just to cover the court-cost and such should be suffiecent .... ain't no need fo him to have to brake his bank on a accident.

i would have shot the bear, and made a rug out of her. but, i wouldnt have shot the 2nd, i wouldnt have got caught, and if so i woulda claimed self defense. paul i hoped i answered ur question

one of the first rules of hunting is to be 100% SURE OF UR TARGET BEFORE FIRING. PERIOD. IF U DON'T KNOW WHAT U ARE SHOOTING AT THEN DON'T SHOOT U FUKIN RETARD.

anyone taking up for this idiot is a fukin retard as well. do the world a favor and go shoot urself in the head. the law is pretty clear.


u don't shoot unless u know what u are shooting at. period.


as far as turning himself in, the goofy bastard signed a self clearing permit if he was hunting on a wma, they would of figured out who it was anyway.


ain't like he shot a spoonie thinkin it was a teal. and the greedy bastard shot the baby too. lock his dumbass up for 8 months and fine his ass 22,000$ like the law says to.

then maybe there will be a deterant for the other idiots not to do the same thing.

While I have been sitting in the stand right before daylight and seen what turned out to be a bear. The way it looked with his head down @ 300 yards I wasent sure what it was at 1st. It did kinda look like a hog for a split second,


Did this guy do the right thing by turning himself in? HELL NO

DENY DENY DENY and buy a new barrell for ya rifle WITH CASH

Should they throw the book at him? HELL YES

DA said it best --- HE SHOT THE BABY TOO. I dont see how anyone can make a shot without being sure what he is shooting at.

i'm thinkin more crotchity than cranky.


just had enough with stupid people. it never ends.

hey mr.stump,i'm willin to help ya out with ya pesky lil critter probs.!!

Incident like this does nothing to promote honesty. After hearing what this poor sumbiatch has coming to him, hell no I wouldn't tell anybody what happened. Is pretty scary knowing he couldn't tell a bear from a hog though, glad I ain't sharing land with him.

I guess I'm crotchitie too, cause I'm X2 with DA.