Deer hunter David Berry Jnr sentenced to repeated viewings of ‘Bambi’ in jail
- David Berry Jnr will be forced to watch the animated film at least once a month during his year-long jail term
- Berry and two family members were arrested on charges of killing hundreds of deer over three years
US authorities have no idea how many deer the Berry family and their associates illegally killed in the fields and forests of southern Missouri over the last decade, but the details of their poaching operation would make any animal-lover’s stomach turn.
Over nearly nine years, David Berry and his two sons, David Berry Jnr and Kyle Berry, killed the deer, mostly at night, then cut off their heads and antlers – leaving the bodies to rot where they fell.
There was some financial motivation in the carnage, but authorities said collecting the deer heads was mostly about ego.
“Taking just the heads is their version of obtaining a ‘trophy’ and leaving the carcass behind is merely an afterthought,” said Randy Doman, the division chief of the Missouri Department of Conservation, told the Springfield News-Leader.
“While there are some cases where poachers go after the antlers for profit, with this bunch it was more about the thrill of the kill itself.”
And so when the Berrys and more than a dozen other poachers were ultimately sentenced, Lawrence county Judge Robert George apparently hoped a little Disney magic would show one of them the error of his ways.