PEORIA, Illinois — The former host of “Fear No Evil,” a hunting show that aired on the Outdoor Channel, has pleaded guilty to poaching deer.
Christopher Brackett, 41, from East Peoria, Illinois, admitted to killing two bucks in Indiana while filming an episode of his cable TV show in December, 2013. Per season, Indiana state law permitted hunters to kill only one buck.
Brackett nicknamed the second buck the “Unicorn Buck” for its unique antlers and, under the Lacy Act, a U.S. Conservation Law, illegally transported it back to his home in East Peoria.
The poaching of the “Unicorn Buck” was featured on Brackett’s show in 2014. The host confessed to instructing a cameraman and producer to hide footage of the kill of the first, smaller buck.
Brackett further confessed to instructing an employee to destroy an eight-point rack in 2017 prior to charges filed against him.
Brackett was set to be sentenced on November 5, 2019. He has agreed to serve 2.5 years of probation; during that time he is banned from hunting worldwide. He also has to pay $3,500 to the State of Indiana as well as a $26,500 fine.
“Maybe the punishment is lil (sic) longer time out and at bigger monetary cost but all in all God is good,” Brackett said in a Facebook post. “Six years ago was a long time and long before this whole thing was dug up I was a different man and now that it’s over… I look forward to the future.”
The charges were investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the assistance of both the Illinois and Indiana Departments of Natural Resources.
