OAK RIDGE - Randy Mazey is talking, and the embarrassment in his voice is palatable. He's the University of Tennessee pitching coach who helped get the Vols into last year's College World Series. Now, allegedly, he's a poacher.
When he says the word it hangs in the air like a fat pitch. Yeah, he admits he was on Department of Energy property last Sunday when Danny Hall killed a 4-point buck. And, yeah, it's his Matthew's bow, Ruger .270 rifle and treestand that have been confiscated by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
He says there's just more to it.
"When we went in there that morning I had no idea we were doing anything wrong," said Mazey, who has been a coach at UT since 1999. "I was just going on a hunt with a group of hunters. The last thing you do is assume what you are doing is illegal."
Danny Hall of Loudon and Mazey, who lives in Friendsville, have been charged with hunting big game out of season and possessing a weapon on a wildlife-management area during a closed season. They face fines of up to $500 and six months in jail on both counts.
A 16-year-old Loudon County youth was with Hall and Mazey but has not been charged. Mazey claims both he and the youngster did not know they were on the Oak Ridge WMA.
"I had no idea it was DOE property until an officer told me," Mazey said. "I've lived in Knoxville for three years, but I didn't know where the DOE property is."
Sometimes, poachers are caught because of some connect-the-dots detective work. Last Sunday law enforcement officials simply had to follow footprints in the snow.
About 5:30 that morning Hall, Mazey and the 16-year-old crawled through a hole in the chain-link fence not far from the boat launch below Melton Hill Dam. The Unit A deer season was still open in Roane County and, according to various sources, Hall was wanting to shoot a hunting video of the boy.
Sometime during the day the buck was killed - Hall told officers he did the shooting and again took responsibility in a letter he wrote in Mazey's defense - and the deer and equipment were taken back through the fence onto TVA property below the dam.
Unbeknownst to the alleged poachers, crews from Oak Ridge National Laboratory had been working on roads inside the fence and saw footprints where they shouldn't have been. Security officers were called and the tracks followed back to the boat ramp.
The sources said Hall, who could not be reached for comment, was found in the parking lot and questioned. He said he had been videotaping deer, but claimed no wrongdoing.
While Hall was being interviewed, a DOE security officer found some hunting equipment partially hidden under some brush. About that time, Mazey and the youth were seen walking across the Highway 95 bridge in full camouflage and were stopped and questioned.
It didn't take long for the story to come spilling out.
A law-enforcement official who asked not to be identified believes Mazey and the boy didn't know they were hunting illegally.
The trio crawled through a 6-foot high chain-link fence that was topped with three strands of barbed wire. Not 5 feet from the hole in the fence is a sign that clearly says "No" with a faded "Trespassing" below it.
"I think the coach and the boy are both very naïve," the officer said. "That's the best way to describe them."
Jim Evans, manager of Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area, said Hall might have misled them into believing the area was open for hunting, but they should have been aware something wasn't right.
"How can you go through a fence like that without an alarm bell going off?" Evans said. "This isn't a fence that you find on a farm somewhere."
TWRA Information Officer Dan Hicks, said "if it hadn't been for TVA Police Officer John Neal, we wouldn't have a case. He discovered the deer and the equipment that had been hidden. Maybe a 100 yards from the parking lot the deer and equipment had obviously been hidden so someone could drive by later and pick up the equipment and the deer."
John Stang, owner of Eagle's Wings Archery, knows everybody involved all too well. Hall worked for him for two years and the boy has been a regular at Eagle's Wings almost since the shop opened. Mazey bought the bow that was confiscated at Stang's shop.
"This is like something in my family, it's a kick in the gut," Stang said. "This isn't some John Doe poacher. Danny worked here and was well-liked and respected. The boy has been taught how to shoot and how to hunt here."
Mazey is scheduled to appear in court March 4. Officials with UT's athletic department said he is in no danger of losing his job. Officials with TWRA say it will be up to the judge as to whether he loses his bow and gun.
"It's been confiscated and can be declared contraband," Evans said.
Mazey said he has never been charged with violating any wildlife laws and even worked to catch some poachers while playing baseball at Clemson. He said he's ready to accept any consequences, including losing the Matthew's bow he bought as a Christmas gift and the Ruger .270 rifle.
What is harder to swallow is the feeling he was misled.
In Hall's letter, he writes that Mazey did not know he was on DOE property and that it was Hall who shot the buck.
"I was the one that took the animal out of season," Hall wrote. "Randy and I met after being in the woods from 5:30 Sunday morning until 6:30 Sunday after noon (sic). Randy, I am very sorry to say was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is all my mistake. I am very sorry to have place (sic) Randy in this situation."
The letter will probably do little to ease any of the legal ramifications for Mazey, but it did ease Stang's mind.
"I worked with Danny for two years and the fact that he owned up to the responsibility is the one good thing that comes out of this," Stang said. "Even the law enforcement guys said he was very cooperative."
For Mazey, possible fines or losing equipment isn't the worst.
"Is it embarrassing? Of course it is," Mazey said. "I don't agree with anybody poaching any animal and here I am associated with it."
Mazey is scheduled in Roane County eneral Sessions on March 4.