Hunter Hollingsworth is a railroad technician and owns about 91 acres of land outside Camden, Tennessee.
Hunter’s attachment to his land, which was an important part of his childhood, runs deep. It’s where he and his dad spent several days a week fishing, hunting, and cooking over campfires on the riverbank. Hunter still carries on that family tradition, inviting friends over to hunt, fish, and relax. He also uses his land to grow crops.
Based on nothing but their own whims, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officers routinely enter private lands to snoop for potential hunting violations. When Hunter discovered a surveillance camera that TWRA installed in one of his trees, he took it home, not knowing where it came from. Its pictures showed officers installing the camera and monitoring him and his friends. And on other occasions, Hunter has seen TWRA officers wandering around his property without permission. When Hunter told one officer that he didn’t have permission to barge onto his land, the officer replied: “When you bought your hunting license you invited me.”
Now, to protect the property and privacy rights of all Tennesseans, Hunter is fighting back against TWRA’s warrantless intrusions and the agency’s treatment of a hunting license as an open invitation to snoop around private property.
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