CONCORD TWP — The opening day of rifle deer season landed a hunter in serious trouble with the law.

Paul R. Homa II, 59, of Concord Township was cited for several summary hunting violations. But that wasn't the worst of it.

Because he is a felon, he is not allowed to possess any guns under state law.

Homa, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission officers, was caught Nov. 30 in a wooded area off Route 38 in Concord Township with a bolt-action rifle.

On Tuesday, he turned himself in to authorities at the state Board of Probation and Parole office in Center Township, a day after the game commission charged him with prohibited possession of a firearm, a felony, and four hunting-related offenses. He was placed in the Butler County Prison on a parole violation. Later, District Judge Lewis Stoughton arraigned Homa on the charges.

A deputy state game warden came upon the defendant around 11 a.m. on the first day of rifle season for deer. He was holding the scoped rifle, but was not wearing the required blaze orange, authorities said. Asked what he was hunting, according to charging documents, Homa “replied he would have been happy with a big buck and a coyote.” He said he saw a coyote, but was unable to get a shot at it.

Game commission officers checked their records, authorities said, and found the defendant's hunting license is suspended through June 2021. A criminal records check, documents said, turned up Homa's prior convictions, including one each in 2015 for felony drug possession and felony firearms possession. That case, court documents showed, stemmed from state police reportedly finding several marijuana plants, eight long guns and a handgun at his home. He subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 to 96 months in state prison, according to records.

In 2013, Homa pleaded guilty to charges in multiple unrelated cases, including for felony drug possession for having marijuana growing outside his home, for possessing illegally mounted dead wildlife, and for driving under the influence.

Among the items seized from his house was a dead, mounted ruby-throated hummingbird, dead and mounted timber rattlesnakes and dozens of wildlife animal skulls and antlers. While much of the wildlife allegedly found in Homa's house was legal to hunt and to own, court records indicate that the defendant did not have proper licenses. He was sentenced in all three cases to a total of 72 hours to six months in the Butler County Prison.

Online court records did not indicate if Homa has an attorney in connection with the latest charges. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 28 at Stoughton's office in Chicora.

Paul Homa II