ELLSWORTH COUNTY – A man was taken into custody in Ellsworth County Thursday evening for several hunting, firearms and drug violations, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism reported.

According to post on the KDWPT Facebook page, the department’s game warden who covers Ellsworth and Lincoln counties responded to a citizen complaint of rifle shots fired at dusk Thursday.

After contacting the hunter, exiting the field with archery equipment, he found the suspect was deer hunting without a permit, the post said. Further investigation led to numerous drug charges including possession of meth and marijuana, intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and the seizure of a large amount of cash. 

Come Friday morning, a team of game wardens and game warden K9 Meg resulted in the finding of a high power rifle the hunter left behind being, adding a charge for felon in possession of a firearm and using a rifle to hunt deer in archery season. 

Charges are pending, the KDWPT reported. The name of the man and other information were unavailable as of presstime.