Local Hunter Cited for Using Bait in Bear Hunt

A Silver Spring man was among three men cited Monday by Maryland Natural Resources Police for illegal hunting on the opening day of the state’s black bear season.

Robert Read Batchelor, 49, of Silver Spring, and Donald Wayne Truax, 25, and Harvey Richard Cockrell, 79, both of Falls Church, Va., received citations for bear hunting with the aid of bait.

Officers found the men shortly after 7 a.m. on private property near Deer Park in Garrett County. Several locations on the property were baited with corn and peanut butter, police said in a release.

The three men are scheduled to appear in Garrett District Court on Dec. 10. If found guilty, they each could be fined up to $1,500.

»Photo of tree smeared with peanut butter, from MNRP website