Two Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) enforcement agents were honored at the June 3 Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting held in Baton Rouge.
Shikar-Safari Club International presented their 2024 Conservation Officers of the Year award for Louisiana to LDWF Sgt. Cole Cupit and Agent Andrew Lemoine. The Shikar-Safari award recognizes agents from each state for outstanding efforts in conservation law enforcement.
“These two agents are very deserving of this prestigious honor and we are proud of the work they did to earn this award,” said Col. Stephen Clark. “Their thorough investigation into the illegal harvest of a black bear uncovered evidence that led to an admission of guilt and an arrest.”
Top row from left to right: LWFC Commissioner Jimmie Martin Sr., LWFC Commissioner Harlie Reynolds and LWFC Commissioner Andrew Blanchard. (Photo courtesy LDWF)
Sgt. Cupit and Agent Lemoine earned this award for their investigative work on an illegally harvested Louisiana black bear this past hunting season on the Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The agents’ investigation led to the arrest of Christopher Buck, 30, of Lafayette, on Dec. 4, 2024 for illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and taking a bear during a closed season.
After hearing the evidence that Sgt. Cupit and Agent Lemoine accumulated, Buck admitted to shooting the bear with a shotgun loaded with buckshot on Nov. 29, 2024 on the WMA. The agents then booked Buck into the Concordia Parish Correctional Facility.
Sgt. Cupit has been an agent for six years and Agent Lemoine two years with both patrolling the central Louisiana area. Sgt. Cupit past accolades include earning his region’s 2022 Agent of the Year and the 2023 Waterfowl Officer of the Year. Agent Lemoine previously received the 2024 Statewide Waterfowl Officer of the Year.
