Judge orders convicted deer poacher to watch ‘Bambi’ once a month

A judge in Missouri has ordered a man caught in a massive deer poaching ring to watch the movie “Bambi” once a month while serving out his yearlong jail sentence.

David Berry Jr. received the sentence from a Lawrence County judge for his part in a multiyear poaching case that involved taking heads from hundreds of trophy bucks and leaving the bodies to rot, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

The news outlet reports that court records show Berry must “view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter, during Defendants incarceration in the Lawrence County Jail.”

{mosads}Three relatives of Berry’s were also charged in the poaching ring, though Berry is the only one required to watch the popular 1942 Disney film.

Conservation agents who investigated the ring are calling it one of Missouri’s largest cases of deer poaching.

“It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years,” Lawrence County conservation agent Andy Barnes said. “It would be safe to say that several hundred deer were taken illegally.”

Berry Jr. was also sentenced to four months in another county jail for a felony firearms probation violation.