Poached Minnesota Buck

A Goodhue County man with a criminal history has been charged with poaching a white-tailed buck believed to have the largest set of eight-point antlers ever measured.

Troy Alan Reinke, 32, of Cannon Falls was charged this morning in Goodhue County with 13 counts of illegal taking deer. If convicted, he faces $19,000 in fines, up to a year in jail and revocation of his hunting license.

Reinke allegedly shot the world-class deer with a bow and arrow on Halloween while hunting on private property. According to court records, Reinke admitted to shooting three deer in October, including the trophy 8-pointer. He allegedly shot the trophy eight-pointer after shooting another eight-pointer earlier in the month.

Pictures of the trophy buck have circulated widely on the Internet. While official record keeping organizations such as the Pope and Young Club and Boone & Crockett Cub do not officially recognize world-records for eight-point deer, Department of Natural Resources officials believe the deer possesses the largest set of eight-point antlers ever measured for a whitetail.

The DNR has confiscated the deer and antlers as evidence. The agency had them officially scored this week. The gross score was 190 5/8 inches on the Boone & Crockett scale, with a net score of 185 inches. DNR officials say the biggest eight-pointer ever shot was a Michigan deer with a score of 180.

Reinke was charged with two counts of taking deer without a license; two charges of taking deer over the legal limit; two charges for possessing an untagged big-game animal; two charges of failure to register a deer; two charges of failure to validate a deer license; one charge of gross overlimit of wild animals; and two charges of transporting an illegal big-game animal.
Reinke has previous convictions for domestic assault, theft and fishing with too many fishing lines. According to court records, he served 120 days in jail recently for his second domestic assault charge.

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