A pair were found on another’s property with a dead deer and one of the men holding a revolver, and that was what got one of the two in trouble with law enforcement over the weekend according to Polk County Police reports.

Michael Chad Garrett, 42, of a Rockmart-area address, was taken into custody after further investigation yielded several hunting-related offenses and a felony gun charge against him.

Polk County Police reported that they first got involved when a 911 call was received about shots being fired on a property on Sunday, October 27 around 9 a.m.

When officers arrived, they found Garrett and another man standing over the dead deer and claiming it had been caught in a fence, attacked by dogs and the pair were simply trying to put it out of its misery. Police questioned Garrett further about the incident and asked if he was a convicted felon, which he first admitted to officers on scene.

After DNR officers were called out to further investigate the incident, Garrett began changing his story.

Eventually police found he was a convicted felon, and differing witness statements put the revolver in his hand when the deer was killed. A lookup of his criminal history through the Sheriff’s Office confirmed he was indeed a felon, and not allowed to own or handle firearms of any kind.

PCPD took Garrett onward to the Polk County Jail without incident where he faced a felony charge of possession of a firearm by convicted felon or first offender, plus hunting-related misdemeanor charges including hunting or fishing without a license, violation of hunter education requirements, recording and reporting requirements for game animals and birds and hunting deer without fluorescent orange.

Garrett remained in custody as of this posting waiting for bond to be set on the charges.