Kansas men charged with illegal hunting of deer and coyotes

Four Kansas men face between 11 and 38 charges each related to illegal hunting in Chase County, according to court documents filed this week.

Brody J. Harrison, Spencer W. Harshman, Tyler E. Dickerson and Michael W. Bockman all texted about the illegal hunting, according to court documents, which outline text messages allegedly between them about hunting with a spotlight, which is illegal, and the need to bring “quiet guns.”

All of them have the charge of taking a trophy deer on Nov. 1, 2024, that had a gross antler score of 143 points.

Harrison, a Chase County man born in 2003, faces 38 counts, including the killing of six deer, eight coyotes, a vulture, a crow and dove, the document says.

Deer, coyote, crow and dove can be hunted with the proper licenses and permits and during certain times of the year. There is no season for hunting vulture, which are a protected animal.

One of Harrison’s cases includes animal cruelty from June 6, 2023, when he is accused of chasing a coyote on a “UTV to the point of exhaustion and taking a picture of it underneath the tire of the UTV,” court records say. Four of his Chase County cases are felonies; the rest are misdemeanors. His charges are all for incidents between 2022 and 2024.

Harshman, a 44-year-old Elmdale man, faces 18 charges, with four of them felonies. His charges include the same six deer and two of the same coyotes as Harrison, including the one where a UTV was used. His charges are all for incidents between 2022 and 2024.

Dickerson, a Hillsboro man, has been charged with 12 counts, including two felonies. Six of his charges are related to killing one deer, one of the same deer the other two men are charged with killing. That is the only animal he is charged with killing.

Bockman, a 41-year-old Junction City man, has been charged with 11 counts, including two felonies. Five of his charges are related to the same deer as the other men. That is the only animal he is charged with killing.

Here are some of the messages outlined in court documents:

From Oct. 31, 2024 between Harshman and Harrison:

“Do you have a spotlight?” Harshman wrote. Harrison responded that it was on his saddle. Harshman replied that the spotlight was for the next day, when they would go together.

“(Expletive) perfect it’s on tomorrow. Dirty Mike and the boys ride again,” Harshman wrote.

Then there was a group message between the four men from the next day:

“I need you boy to bring quiet guns,” Harshman wrote. “Big enough to kill deer.”

A few hours later, now in the afternoon, Harshman wrote “Team Spencer and Brody on the board” while sending a photo of a buck on UTV with Harshman and Harrison each holding an antler.

“1 down 736 to go,” Bockman wrote. “Is it a murder spree?!!!”

Bockman said “we are about to head your way.” Harshman replied: “Better hurry (expletive) is dying left and right.”

He later wrote, “I shot a deer 1 mile south of Brody.”

Harshman also sent text messages that same day to someone listed in court records as an individual.

“So that huge deer we saw the other day moving Buffalo I just shot him,” Harshman wrote. “We have guns and spotlights. The deer hunting will continue.”

Harrison was also charged in August 2025 in Greenwood County in an ongoing case with six counts related to illegal hunting. Harshman, Bockman and Dickerson are all witnesses in that case.