The Hunting Report

While out trapping on New Years Eve for coyotes this rancher caught a strange looking coyote! He caught a mountain lion in a coyote trap, and by the time they got there it nearly pulled the trap out of the ground! They may have not caught a coyote, but they still did their job by getting rid of a predator and helping save farm animals and fawns!
Congratulations Eastin and Billy Goodpasture on your mountain lion!

The buck that became known as the Hollywood Buck was never famous because of record book inches. It became famous because of where it lived and how it died.

For years, a large mature whitetail roamed the Hollywood Cemetery area in Richmond, Virginia, one of the most historic and heavily visited urban landscapes in the state. The buck was well known to local residents, joggers, photographers, and wildlife watchers. Photos and videos of the deer circulated online as people recognized it as a rare example of a mature whitetail surviving in the middle of a city.

Because the area is closed to hunting, the buck became an unofficial symbol of urban wildlife coexistence. It lived undisturbed, visible in daylight, and appeared to thrive in an environment where hunting pressure did not exist.

That changed in January 2023.

Virginia conservation officers received reports that the buck had been illegally killed inside the city. An investigation by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources determined that the deer had been shot and unlawfully taken from the protected area. The antlers and meat were removed, and the carcass was left behind.

The investigation led to a suspect, and in 2024, the individual responsible pleaded guilty in court. As part of the sentencing, the man received criminal penalties, including fines, court costs, and a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges in Virginia. The case was publicly announced by wildlife officials due to its seriousness and high visibility.

The controversy surrounding the Hollywood Buck was not about inches, scoring, or records.

It was about trust.

The buck was taken from a place where hunting is prohibited, in a community that had grown accustomed to seeing and appreciating the animal alive. For many hunters, the case was especially frustrating because it reinforced negative stereotypes and undermined the principles of ethical, legal hunting that most sportsmen work hard to uphold.

Today, the Hollywood Buck is remembered as a cautionary story. Not of temptation, but of consequence. It showed that even a single illegal act can damage public perception, bring unwanted attention to the hunting community, and permanently remove someone’s privilege to hunt.

The Real Story of the Blake Keating Buck

In September of 2021, hunter Blake Keating arrowed a massive non-typical whitetail in northeast Kansas that immediately grabbed national attention because of the size of its antlers. The pictures went viral and folks started talking world records almost instantly.

At first the narrative focused on the size and the idea that this was an unbelievable free-range whitetail. Keating himself stated early on that the buck had shown up on his trail cameras and he connected after a few evenings of hunting.

But as the story unfolded, new facts came out that changed the way many hunters interpreted this deer. A licensed high-fence deer ranch was located about 10 miles from where the buck was taken, and the ranch operators said they had history with this exact animal.

That detail — combined with evidence like a hole in the buck’s ear that could indicate a tag — strongly suggests the buck originated from the high fence operation and later escaped into the surrounding landscape.

Because of that connection to the high fence facility, wildlife records officials ultimately ruled this deer ineligible for world record status even though mechanically and biologically the buck’s antler mass was extraordinary.

So the full true story as best as can be told from verified reporting is:

• Blake Keating legally harvested the deer on private land in Kansas.
• A nearby high fence ranch was confirmed to have history with the buck.
• Because of that connection, this buck could not stand as an official world record free-range whitetail.
• The buck still remains one of the biggest non-typical whitetails ever taken by a hunter in the field — and a once-in-a-lifetime animal to most hunters who saw it.

This poacher entered this 218” buck into a local contest and got caught poaching it!
In November 2021, a massive buck shot in La Crosse County, Wisconsin began turning heads not for the way it was harvested but for the questions that followed once the story reached the public. The antlers on the deer were enormous — estimated around 218 inches green score — and the rack had been proudly showcased in several local hunting contests, drawing admiration from fellow deer hunters across the region.
At first glance, it looked like another impressive late-season whitetail taken in the heart of Midwest deer country, where fertile ground and strong genetics have produced legendary racks. But soon after the photos and contest entries circulated, an anonymous tip to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Violation Hotline would dramatically change how the harvest was viewed.
DNR conservation wardens began investigating and discovered that the hunter had not taken the deer with a bow during archery season as initially claimed. Instead, evidence showed the animal was shot with a rifle during a period when rifles were not allowed, and features of the investigation revealed the use of illegal bait on the property. Officials also found the hunter had used a relative’s license in previous years to continue hunting after already harvesting two other bucks.
The La Crosse County District Attorney’s office charged the hunter, and in June 2023, he was convicted under a plea agreement that resulted in a three-year revocation of his hunting and fishing privileges along with multiple citations, including for providing false information to authorities and possessing an archery season deer that was killed with a firearm.
The organizers of the local contests where the buck had been entered were notified that the deer was harvested illegally and the entry was removed. What had once been a celebrated trophy became a stark example of how wildlife laws exist not just to regulate harvests but to protect fair chase, ethical hunting practices, and the trust between hunters and wildlife managers.
For many in the deer hunting community, the La Crosse County buck controversy was not just about one big set of antlers. It became a cautionary story about the consequences of bending or breaking regulations, and how quickly admiration can turn to scrutiny when legality and integrity are called into question.

The case of the famous poached Ohio buck!

In November of 2023, one of the most notorious poaching scandals in recent Ohio hunting history began to unfold when Christopher J. “CJ” Alexander (CJ Alexander) , 28, of Wilmington, Ohio, killed a truly giant 18-point whitetail buck during the closed portion of deer season in Clinton County. The deer’s antlers were later green-scored around 206 7⁄8 inches typical, which would have made it the No. 1 typical in Ohio history and one of the largest typical whitetails in North America.

Alexander publicly claimed he harvested this massive buck, nicknamed “Megatron”, with a borrowed crossbow on 9 acres of family land and shared photos of it online and with publications. But wildlife investigators quickly grew suspicious.

An Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) investigation revealed the truth was very different:
• Alexander hunted the buck on private land where he did not have permission, violating Ohio’s hunting laws.
• Text messages, GPS metadata, photos, and videos obtained from his phone laid out a detailed pattern of trespassing, staging, and deception.
• He and accomplices then staged photos and altered locations to make it appear the deer was legally taken on his sister’s property.

Investigators also discovered that Alexander profited from the illegal harvest, selling the antlers to a buyer, selling exclusive rights to the story to a hunting magazine, and signing a promotional deal — all while using the same fabricated narrative.

In June 2024, Alexander was indicted on 23 criminal charges, and he eventually pleaded guilty to 14 counts in October. These included felony theft by deception, tampering with evidence, hunting violations, falsification, jacklighting, and the illegal sale of wildlife parts.

In December 2024, a Clinton County judge handed down a serious sentence that reflected the gravity of the offense and the value of the illegally taken buck:
• 90 days in jail at the Star Community Justice Center (with additional suspended time).
• Five years of community control.
• A fine and restitution exceeding $39,000 paid to the Ohio Wildlife Fund and others.
• Forfeiture of all hunting equipment seized as evidence.
• Revocation of his hunting license for at least 10 years (and longer if restitution isn’t fully paid).

His accomplices — Corey and Zachary Haunert and Kristina M. Alexander — also pleaded guilty to their roles in aiding and abetting the scheme and received fines, probation, and other penalties.

The case drew national attention not because of the size of the buck alone but because it underscored how wildlife laws protect both resources and the integrity of hunting traditions. The Ohio Attorney General emphasized that cheating the system and misleading the public harms the reputation of lawful sportsmen and women, and the severe penalties in this case were meant to deter others from similar behavior.

The Day the World’s Biggest Typical Whitetail Stepped Out

On November 23, 1993, in the open farm country near Biggar, Saskatchewan, a whitetail buck stepped out of the brush that would forever change the record books.

The man holding the rifle was a quiet farmer named Milo Hanson. He wasn’t chasing fame. He wasn’t running trail cameras or managing a trophy property. He was simply deer hunting during the legal rifle season, on land he knew well, in a place where winters are brutal and bucks don’t survive by accident.

When the deer appeared, Hanson knew it was big. But like many legendary hunting stories, he had no idea just how big.

After the shot, the buck went down within sight. When Hanson walked up to it, the scale of the antlers became undeniable. Long, perfectly matched tines. Incredible mass. Symmetry that looked almost unreal. It was the kind of rack hunters dream about but rarely see outside of magazines.

The buck was later officially measured by Boone and Crockett at 213 5/8 inches, making it the largest typical whitetail deer ever recorded. To this day, more than 30 years later, no typical has surpassed it.

What makes the Hanson buck even more remarkable isn’t just the inches. It’s the story behind it.

There were no scandals.
No shortcuts.
No violations.

The deer was legally harvested. Properly tagged. Officially measured. Fully documented. It stood the test of time because it stood on integrity.

In a world where so many giant deer stories end with disqualifications, investigations, or poaching charges, the Hanson buck represents what happens when habitat, patience, genetics, and ethical hunting align.

In late November 2021, Carson Putnam tagged the Ohio buck that hunters still talk about like a campfire legend, except this one has measurements, names, and a paper trail.
A giant non typical buck had been showing up in the area just ahead of Ohio’s youth gun weekend, and word started moving fast. Putnam said a neighboring farmer saw the deer while harvesting crops and joked it looked like “coke cans” were coming out of its head, and a friend of his dad had also spotted it along a fence row days before.
One afternoon in November on his family’s farm, Putnam was glassing fields from the road when he watched does, an 8 pointer, and then the target buck appear. He described the buck as a “21x12” that filtered behind the deer into a small block of timber. Putnam used that moment to crawl through the field, circle to another patch of woods, and set up about 200 yards from where he last saw the deer.
Not long after, the buck came back out, trailing a doe. Putnam waited for it to slow, then shot at 210 yards, hitting it behind the shoulder. He said the buck’s back end dropped, then it ran toward him, he fired again and missed at about 50 yards, and the deer disappeared through a worked bean field into a creek bed.
That night, he could only find a ball of hair and a single droplet of blood, but he got into the creek and smelled blood and guts. He backed out and, the next morning, arranged for a tracking dog. The buck was found about 900 yards from the shot, half under water and pinned against a beaver dam.
Buckmasters reported the buck as a 33 pointer from Ross County with a compact frame and an 8 1/8 inch inside spread, scoring 259 1/8 inches on the Buckmasters scoring system. They also noted all eight circumference measurements were 7 2/8 inches or more, and described it as the largest deer harvested in the state by a youth hunter with any weapon.
On the Ohio side, the state’s Buckeye Big Buck Club 2022 report lists Carson Putnam as the top non typical “Rifle” entry at 237 5/8 in Ross County. That record book uses a different scoring system than Buckmasters, which is why you’ll see different numbers attached to the same deer depending on the record book.

On November 18, 2006, Wisconsin hunter Johnny King harvested a massive whitetail buck in Grant County, Wisconsin, near Mount Horeb. The deer was taken legally during the opening day of Wisconsin’s firearm season, using a shotgun, while participating in a traditional deer drive on a neighboring farm bordering agricultural fields.

The buck was free range and taken under fair chase conditions. Nothing about the harvest itself was ever questioned or cited as illegal.

What followed is what made this deer famous.

When the rack was first examined, its sheer size and structure immediately drew national attention. The antlers carried tremendous mass, long beams, and towering tines. Early measurements suggested the buck could potentially challenge major record book benchmarks, which sparked widespread discussion in the hunting community.

However, upon closer inspection by certified scorers, the rack displayed shared antler characteristics at the bases, meaning portions of the antlers originated from a common structure rather than separate pedicles. Because of this feature, the Boone and Crockett Club ruled that the deer did not qualify as a typical whitetail.

Boone and Crockett ultimately classified the Johnny King buck as non typical, not typical, based strictly on their long standing scoring rules. This decision removed the deer from consideration as a potential typical record, despite its exceptional size.

The ruling sparked years of debate, not because of legality or honesty, but because the buck sat on the edge of how antler classifications are defined. The controversy centered entirely on antler structure and scoring standards, not on where the deer came from or how it was taken.

There has never been credible evidence or official allegations of
• High fence origin
• Deer farm escape
• Poaching
• Illegal harvest
• Record book manipulation

The Johnny King buck remains one of the most discussed whitetails in modern history because it forced record keeping organizations to publicly explain and defend their scoring rules.

On November 2, 2018, Illinois bowhunter Luke Brewster legally harvested this giant free-range non-typical whitetail in Edgar County, near the Indiana border.
The deer had been known for years through trail camera photos and was widely recognized as a once-in-a-lifetime buck long before the shot was ever taken.
After the harvest, the rack was officially measured by certified scorers and reviewed by record-keeping organizations.
• Initially measured at 320 5/8 inches net non-typical
• An additional 7 2/8 inches of abnormal points were later confirmed
• Final official score: 327 7/8 inches net non-typical
The buck was:
• Verified by the Pope and Young Club
• Accepted into the Boone and Crockett Club record book
At the time, that score ranked the Brewster Buck No. 3 all-time among all wild whitetails in Boone and Crockett records, behind only the Hole in the Horn Buck and the Missouri Monarch — both found dead.

I took my buck from this year to the taxidermist and I think he turned his antlers around. I’m not sure what to do, wha would you do in this situation?