A Frederick County man pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally killing a white-tailed deer during a closed season and will pay $6,000 in fines and restitution.

Judge Richard Sandy ordered Michael Hines to pay $5,000 to the State Wildlife Management and Protection Fund for conservation efforts and a $1,000 fine for illegally harvesting a trophy deer. Hines must also serve 80 hours of community service. He entered the plea in the Circuit Court for Frederick County to one count of hunting mammals during a closed season.

Hines admitted to illegally hunting a large buck with a rifle on Nov. 10, 2023. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office said Hines took photographs of himself with the buck and posted them to the social media page Maryland Bowhunters. Hines removed the deer’s head and neck from the body, disposed of the carcass in a thicket, and took the head and antlers to a taxidermist.

The carcass, later recovered by Natural Resources Police officers, showed two circular gunshot holes, indicating the deer had been shot with a firearm and not a crossbow, prosecutors said. The head and antlers were recovered.

Hunting by any other manner during bow season is illegal and is considered poaching.

“Maryland hunters understand the rules about when, where, and how they can hunt. When someone breaks those rules, they’re cheating and harming Maryland’s conservation efforts,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. “This case shows our dedication to protecting the state’s resources.”

Antlers recovered during the course of this investigation were evaluated and received a gross total score of 169 1/8. A person convicted of poaching an antlered white-tailed deer that obtains a score of more than 150 gross inches may be fined up to $10,000 under Maryland’s Natural Resources laws.

“Illegal poaching takes Marylanders’ rightful natural resources away from law-abiding hunters and will not be tolerated under any circumstance,” Natural Resources Police Superintendent Orlando Lilly said.