Search underway for a poacher in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NPS says

A rare case of poaching is being investigated in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where hunting is illegal.

The National Park Service reports a deer was poached in Cades Cove, a valley that is among the most popular tourist destinations in the 522,427-acre park.

“On the morning of December 22, park rangers responded to a report of a deer that had been shot with an arrow in a field off Sparks Lane within the Cades Cove Loop Road,” the park reported in a Dec. 23 news release.

“The poaching is believed to have occurred during daylight hours on December 22 while visitors were in the area.”

Investigators are hoping someone may have dash camera video “coming into or leaving Cades Cove” on the day of the incident. The tip line is 888-653-0009.

White-tailed deer can reach 300 pounds and are found throughout the park, which straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina state line.

“However, most are found in the Cades Cove area. When the Smokies first became a Park, rangers noted very low numbers in Cades Cove, perhaps due to over-hunting,” a park reports says.

“The deer population there spiked in 1970s and 80s, then gradually declined during the 1990s and 2000s, mostly likely due to an increase in predators such as bears and coyotes.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2025 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Search underway for a poacher in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NPS says."