T.V. Show Host Banned from Hunting in Kansas After Poaching Deer

A well-known hunting show host is receiving his just desserts after poaching several deer, and including them in episodes of “The Game.”According to a recent press releasefrom the United States Attorney’s Office District of Kansas, 35-year-old Matt Jennings of Bowdon, Georgia, was sentenced for two illegal deer hunting incidents in 2022.

On November 11, 2022, Jennings shot a buck near Florence, Kansas. However, Jennings did not have a deer tag for that unit. “The next day, the defendant drove to Oklahoma, where he fraudulently registered the kill in Oklahoma using an Oklahoma electronic tag,” explained a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson.

Jennings’s illegal behavior didn’t end there, however. Eight days later, he killed a buck near Wakeeney, Kansas. Jennings did have a valid tag for that unit. However, it is illegal for nonresidents to kill two bucks within the same year in Kansas, and so, he “illegally exceeded the bag limit of one antlered deer per season.”

To make matters worse, Jennings featured both hunts in “The Game,” which was available on both YouTube and CarbonTV. However, following his convictions, CarbonTV has removed Jennings’ content from their channel. “We hold all of our content creators to high moral and ethical standards,” CEO at CarbonTV Julie McQueensaid in an Instagram post. “We do not and will not intentionally air content that features or is associated with illegal or unethical behavior in the outdoors. It’s important that we set the tone for what responsible hunting and conservation look like, and this action reflects our values.”

The investigation against Jennings was led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, with support from other state agencies and even the U.S. Secret Service.

Jennings eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of the illegal taking of a whitetail deer in interstate commerce. The charges derived from The Lacey Act, which “prohibits the importation, exportation, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition, or purchase of any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States.”

Jennings was sentenced to five years of probation, which includes a nationwide hunting and fishing ban for that duration. He also received a lifetime hunting ban in the state of Kansas. Jennings must pay $15,000 in restitution to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, an additional $10,000 fine, and forfeit the antlers of the bucks he illegally killed. Jennings did not respond immediately to a request for comment from MeatEater for this article.

Feature image via “Deer Of A Lifetime, 197-inch Oklahoma Monster” from The Game with Matthew Jennings YouTube.

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