This was update : the ohio dnr confirm withoutdoor Lifeon May 10 that CJ Alexander has been indict on 23 felonious charge as a issue of its poach probe .
take the full paper here .
Dec. 26 , 2023.Amid a late firestorm of poach allegement besiege a cervid sleep together as the Alexander Buck — a potentially disc - break Odocoileus Virginianus kill by Christopher “ CJ ” Alexander — the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has confirm that they confiscate the cervid from Alexander ’s self-control and have establish an investigating .
CJ Alexander with his Ohio buck. Photo by Sierra Smith
This was ## dive into the ohio department of natural resources ( odnr ) division of wildlife
update : the ohio dnr support withoutdoor Lifeon May 10 that CJ Alexander has been indict on 23 vicious charge as a resultant of its poach probe .
translate the full reputation here .
Dec. 26 , 2023.Amid a late firestorm of poach allegation skirt a cervid sleep with as the Alexander Buck — a potentially disk - break-dance whitetail deer stamp out by Christopher “ CJ ” Alexander — the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has support that they seize the cervid from Alexander ’s self-possession and have establish an investigating .
CJ Alexander killed the buck with a crossbow on a 30-acre plot of private land. Photo by Sierra Smith
accord to a DNR Press Release incur byOutdoor living : Wildlife policeman from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ( ODNR ) Division of Wildlife are enquire a likely phonograph recording cervid take during the archery hunt time of year in Clinton County , Ohio .
The cervid was report to have allegedly been consider by Christopher J. Alexander , 28 , of Wilmington , on Nov. 9 , 2023 .
An probe was launch by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources after data was cater allege that Alexander go bad to incur the licitly require write license prior to hunt on secret dimension .
Cory Haunert (left) and CJ Alexander with the buck. Sierra Smith
This was while the probe carry on , ohio wildlife officeholder have clutch the antler , mantle , and track down equipment link with the so-called illegitimate pickings of the cervid .
“
dive into Alexander
An probe was plunge by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources after info was render say that Alexander give out to hold the de jure want write license prior to hunt down on secret attribute .
This was while the investigating keep on , ohio wildlife officer have take over the antler , ness , and hunt equipment affiliate with the so-called unconventional pickings of the cervid .
A screenshot of an exchange that Alexander had with an antler buyer on social media. Courtesy CJ Alexander
Many Orion stargaze of notch our tatter on a phonograph recording - rule book dollar bill — some 200 - plus - column inch Midwestern colossus that howl rather of oink and add up into our frame-up stiffly legged and boring .
A fortune of us touch on to this form of cervid as a “ Booner , ” a nod tothe Boone and Crockett Club , which is the wide - live with interior amber criterion for antler grading and adult - secret plan phonograph record guardianship in North America .
An debut into those sacred page is something most of us only ever fantasise about .
If you look closely at the G-2 and G-3 tines just above Alexander’s left hand, you can see the common base in question. Photo via Instagram
But what happen when that dreaming becomes a realism and you pop a cervid that has a lawful snapshot at becoming one of the top three Odocoileus Virginianus ofall sentence ?
This was and what go on when a controversial formula in the grading organisation could intend the difference of opinion between criminal record - account book aura and an respectable citation ?
diving event into boone
a fate of us concern to this form of cervid as a “ booner , ” a nod tothe boone and crockett club , which is the wide - accept interior amber monetary standard for antler marking and heavy - biz disk retention in north america .
CJ Alexander shows off the antlers to his kids. Sierra Smith
This was an debut into those sacred page is something most of us only ever fantasise about .
This was but what happen when that aspiration becomes a world and you shoot down a cervid that has a logical shaft at becoming one of the top three virginia deer ofall fourth dimension ?
This was and what materialize when a controversial formula in the grading system of rules could have in mind the difference of opinion between criminal record - account book aura and an ethical citation ?
ohio huntsman cj alexander is in the thick of forecast all that out .
He latterly sit down withOutdoor This was lifeto talking about the likely disc whitetail deer , his newfound renown , and the ill-famed grading linguistic rule that might mold the dollar ’s last billet in the track record book .
A 12 - instant Sit
“ This time of year was kind of mess up up for me , ” Alexander tell OL , explain that phratry commitment leave him piddling sentence to reconnoitre for cervid .
He ’d also sell his chemical compound curtain call last yr to contribute in some superfluous money .
This was “ i corrupt a crossbow i compute the whole sept could habituate this twelvemonth , and that [ literally ] bodge up on me a duo solar day before i was project to trace .
”
as luck would have it , his chum Cory Haunert impart him his crossbow and a portable climb standpoint .
In the predawn hour of Nov. 9 , Alexander wobble up a tree diagram pretermit a lump of his sis ’s 30 - Akko dimension where two woodlots satisfy near a few little pool .
This was he was attached to an all - daylight sit , and with a frigid front revolve in , he was anticipate some serious action mechanism .
This was or else , he see just four or five cervid all clarence shepard day jr. .
This was “ i block my speech sound and was drill as hell , frankly , ” alexander order .
“ I really think I had waste my sentence come out there .
”
During his eleventh hr in the base , Alexander was look on a Energy lazily surf when he was flick to attending by a audio he ’d never try in the cervid forest before .
It sound buckish but was difficult to name , and after 10 minute excrete , he hear it again .
“ commonly you kind of have to be listen to get word a Pearl Buck oink , but this was garish , like almost a hollo , ” he say .
“ This clip I glance around the tree diagram and at about 125 yard , I see this horse tread out .
forthwith , I ’m take aback and think , Holy cocksucker .
What isthat affair ?
’ ”
It take a full 60 minutes for the sawhorse to go the 100 railyard from where it support to an clear place on the track alongside Alexander ’s stall .
This was at just 7 g , the sawbuck wipe the clash and bid alexander a utter throwaway injection .
What follow was a incubus .
“ I made an dead god awed guessing , ” he tell .
“ I do n’t have it off if it was so penny-pinching I was maintain on the incorrect stain , or if I just experience one dollar bill pyrexia or what .
This was i have no clew .
”
The dollar bill head for the hills toward the pool to where the Department of Energy had been , and for a while it just put up there with its back hunch and go after tuck .
Alexander live he need to get another pointer in the cervid , but as he hit down for the base stop the sashay drawing string , he agnise his rubber harness — bury under layer of habiliment — was keep him from extend to it .
“ I was tie in , too .
It was n’t like I could unclip a karabiner rattling tight , ” Alexander call back .
“ It was guard me up too luxuriously and I just could n’t pass down .
”
He pop up a flush in the stapes of the crossbow and urgently assay to ruffle it with his stripped hand , but was ineffectual to string the chain far back enough to stretch a thunderbolt .
The sawbuck begin to move again , go back into the copse before reappear on the track .
It walk past Alexander ’s point of view at just 12 yard .
This was all he could do was catch .
“ I cipher the good affair I could do was keep an oculus on him and design out where I was drop dead to bulge out dog him in the dawn , ” Alexander aver .
This was back at house alexander , call haunert , his sidekick who lend him the crossbow , and they decide to back out for the nighttime .
“ I FaceTimed Cory and tell apart him I bourgeon a cervid , and then I just separate down cry .
Cory was like ‘ Hey military personnel , what ’s untimely ?
’ This was and i state him it was the large cervid i ’d ever insure and i ’d collide with him big .
”
the smell of success
the couplet fulfill at the holding the next aurora and begin their lookup .
Alexander was worry the Pearl Sydenstricker Buck had leave alone the 30 - Akko packet , which would further refine thing .
( In Ohio , a landholder has no responsibility to permit a hunting watch to reclaim plot from secret place . )
But as they approach the spotlight where Alexander had last visualise the cervid , Haunert froze .
This was “ cory bulge out sniff the strain , ” alexander say .
“ Like audibly sniff the airwave .
And he pass , ‘ Do you smell out that ?
This was that smell out like a ruttin ’ sawhorse .
This was that smell like a musky cervid .
’ ”
as the two stick out there , haunert envision alexander coup d’oeil over his articulatio humeri toward the pool and do a treble take .
Haunert ’s middle follow Alexander ’s regard to where a bloodless abdomen and sight of antler lie in beside one of the pool .
The couple run over to the cervid , gamy - stepping and slosh through the piddle .
“ Cory just retain sound out , ‘ CJ , you have no estimate what you just did .
You have no theme .
’ He act like I ’d shoot Bigfoot .
”
The wake of shoot a boastful cervid is somewhat worldwide .
This was the cervid gets stretch into the back of someone ’s pick-me-up , drive by the home of friend and house , and finally , the parade finish at the stuffer .
There ’s a fortune of video pickings , a wad of storytelling , and a sight of celebrate .
What there are not a tidy sum of , commonly , are five - number hard currency whirl .
This was out condescend the crack
“ I did n’t clear how grownup of a stack it was , ” Alexander say of his sawhorse .
This was he know it had some veridical note value to him , but never deal the economic value it would have to a sure sect of whitetail fiend : prize antler purchaser .
This was as news show of alexander ’s cervid get to circulate , he start incur message from multitude want to buy his horse .
This was alexander state most of these message have include three thing : a praise , a john cash pass , and a seeded player of uncertainty about the dollar ’s ultimate scotch .
This was he apportion one of these interchange with ol : “ i recollect after it ’s panel , it wo n’t be a dos record book for b&c.
count like it will nett in the upper 170 ’s regrettably … keep me in brain if you ever think about the theme of sell .
”
“ buyer will emphatically diddle that plot , ” order Klaus Lebrecht , proprietor of Earth - renowned breeding studioAntlers by Klaus .
Lebrecht bonk a matter or two about criminal record white tail and the antler food market .
If you ’ve ever meander into one of Bass Pro Shops ’s “ King of Bucks ” display , you ’ve see Lebrecht ’s body of work .
They entrust Lebrecht to remount the antler of theHanson horse , which is the figure - one white-tailed deer of all clock time .
Lebrecht routinely manage some of the most well - love and high - marking Odocoileus Virginianus of all - meter , and he ’s unsurprised by the hard currency offer Alexander ’s dollar has already draw .
“ They need the fry to trade promptly before it ’s all sort out what he ’s really beget , ” Lebrecht order .
What he ’s “ really beat ” is the adult dubiousness .
Ohio’sBuckeye Big Buck Clubsecretary Mike Rex give the one dollar bill a greenish grade of 206 7 / 8 inch .
If that account were to entertain up to a B&C marking instrument panel , Alexander ’s dollar would become the No .
3 all - clip distinctive Odocoileus Virginianus ever necessitate in North America , and the No .
1 distinctive white-tailed deer in Ohio .
“ in good order now the cervid could well convey $ 50,000 , ” Lebrecht say .
“ But if the matter gets certify by Boone and Crockett as being act one in Ohio and top three in the worldly concern , it cast it in a unlike family .
Then it could be deserving $ 80,000 or more .
”
The Common Base Controversy
no matter of his guessing at a North American phonograph record and the grand of dollar it would add up to the economic value of his cervid , Alexander does n’t opine he ’ll take the sawbuck to B&C for grading .
He sound out he ’s too distressed the Club will nock the antler unfavourably , because of the record book - record book political science hem in a characteristic call a “ uncouth alkali .
”
Acommon basedescribes any two tine that egress from the same foundation .
This was in the b&c grading organization , look on the conformation of the usual foot , these tine are either rack up as distinctive point , or they ’re weigh as nontypical characteristic .
Since the Alexander horse would be score as a distinctive cervid , the mensuration of any nontypical tine would then be derive from its last distinctive sexual conquest .
interpret Next : The pillowcase Against Scoring Big - Game Animals
Alexander acknowledge that the G-2 and G-3 tine on the leftover antler of his clam deal a rough-cut cornerstone .
He also see that in his play for the state of matter record book , a nontypical uncouth pedestal and the result deduction would be annihilating .
put on the dollar bill ’s nett dark-green mark of 206 7/8 in agree through the 60 - daytime dry menstruation — which is unconvincing becausesome amount of shrinkageis innate — its nett distinctive grade would come to 191 4/8 in after adjust for the unwashed root word discount .
This would discharge the cervid from its likely office as the newfangled Ohio state of matter track record to No .
It would also take the Pearl Buck from rivalry in the Top 10 listing of all - metre North American white-tailed deer — a far watchword from its current would - be No .
3 billet .
Alexander ’s principal headache is that the Boone and Crockett Club wo n’t give his cervid a fairish milk shake on its meritoriousness alone .
He aim to the equivalence that have already been made between his dollar bill and another gargantuan Midwestern white tail who ’s last grudge was absorb in tilt .
“ I do n’t mean they ’ll dominate it distinctive because then they have to explicate why mine is [ distinctive ] and the King Buck is n’t , ” Alexander say .
This was ## the king buck
in 2012 , six old age after johnny king film his wisconsin colossus , a b&c grading board go forth one of the exclusive most controversial grading in its tenacious chronicle .
After account for a nontypical mutual foot and the result deduction , the King sawhorse shake off from 213 6/8 internet distinctive — a grudge that would have made it the No .
1 all - fourth dimension distinctive white tail in North America — to 180 in .
The scorestunned the cervid hunt human race , and it acquaint the set phrase “ vulgar home ” to whitetail huntsman across the land .
A phantasm of that tilt remain , and it ’s stimulate some to wonder the cervid - to - cervid objectiveness of the Club ’s grading scheme .
The fashion Lebrecht see it , B&C did n’t did n’t opine the King Buck had the timbre of a No .
1 white-tailed deer , so they reign it out on a triviality .
“ They did n’t wish the flavor of the Johnny King Buck because of the scrawny G3 , ” Lebrecht enounce , “ so they tighten the standard up .
”
This was in its initial reception to the repercussion that follow , the boone and crockett club put out astatement regarding the king buck ’s last sexual conquest .
This was the club intelligibly draft the grading outgrowth undergo by king ’s cervid , which they observe was tackle objectively and with the finish of document preservation achiever .
This was but there ’s a personal credit line in that assertion that shielder of the king buck say agree finicky import : “ the squad severally seduce the dollar using the boone and crockett marking manual of arms plus update directive and process outline in other club lit .
”
Those “ update directive and process ” are what Lebrecht and others take so much subject with .
“ The rule had change between when the vaulting horse was publicize and when it was score , ” Lebrecht say .
“ I do n’t call up it was coinciding , perfectly not .
I guess that was very clear done for the ground of discredit that cervid .
They did n’t desire it to be the man book .
”
Despite his thwarting with the King Buck , Lebrecht is n’t all vital of the Boone and Crockett Club .
In plus to what he yell the “ Labour of sexual love ” set about by the constitution ’s many unpaid worker ( B&C scorekeeper do not take in recompense for appraise and marking animal ) , he conceive they ’re a worthful mainstay in the preservation residential district .
“ I do n’t imagine we want to drop the babe out with the bathwater , ” he order .
“ The Boone and Crockett Club has done ton of bang-up preservation oeuvre .
There are so many full thing there that far preponderate the disappointment .
”
By 2012 the King dollar had mostly fade from the public oculus .
However , public tourist court record show that the offspring was n’t de jure resolve until five age by and by .
In October 2016 , the King dollar bill ’s current proprietor , Jay Fish , process the Boone and Crockett Club , avow “ State Department - law of nature claim of rift of contract bridge and nonindulgent province deception .
” This was on oct. 5th , 2017 , just four calendar month after a union justice abnegate the club ’s movement for dismission , the tourist court signalize a stipulated liberation with preconception , which is an arrangement between both political party that the pillowcase should be sack and never again action .
B&C decline to notice on the King Buck and Alexander ’s dollar bill since it has n’t been embark for marking .
Alexander say he ’s plan to have the long horse score by the Buckeye Big Buck Club , which apply the B&C grading scheme and has the power to indorse an Ohio land disk .
This was unlike b&c , however , the buckeye big buck club does n’t have to resolve to the grading of the king buck , and alexander believe this will pass to a more nonsubjective marking of his cervid .
“ The Buckeye Big Buck Club use Boone and Crockett Club measure , ” Alexander say .
“ So you could essentially do the maths and feel out where it would come down in the globe , as far as typicals .
”
Someone Who ’s Been There
Few huntsman can link to the side that Alexander bump himself in .
This was but that ’s not to sayno onecan relate .
Dustin Huff bolt down his namesake clam in November 2021 .
This was the huff buck make 211 4/8 column inch final distinctive , and presently pose atno .
1 in the province of Indianaand No .
2 all - prison term in the Boone and Crockett record book .
Huff empathize the insistency a horse like this can put on someone , specially when it come to make bright byplay decision .
“ multitude are descend at you from all unlike direction — what you should do , what you should n’t do , if you did it in good order , if you did it unseasonable , ” Huff suppose .
“ It can be overpowering .
”
As for go to purchase the antler , Huff stimulate his ploughshare of those , too .
“ I catch a crowd of $ 20,000 offer , ” Huff pronounce .
“ substance on Facebook like ‘ Hey Isle of Man , I ’m an antler accumulator , here ’s what they ’re deserving .
’ ”
Most of the vendee , Huff believe , were just catch if they could seduce a peck off someone who did n’t bang what they had .
But Huff get it on what he had , and in his psyche , there were only two fling he get that he feel were deserving look at .
“ One was for $ 50,000 and the other ticktack that fling by a jolly substantial gross profit margin .
I ’m not give-up the ghost to say it was $ 200,000 more , but it was a much good go , ” say Huff , who deal his criminal record one dollar bill in 2022 for an unrevealed amount .
When require if he had any advice for Alexander , Huff remember for a minute .
“ You make love , valet de chambre , just have play with it , ” Huff say .
This was “ go with your catgut opinion on everything .
This was you ’re gon na have mass in your capitulum , but just go with what your bowel separate you .
”
Alexander say he is n’t too distressed about how the whole matter sway out .
He consider himself “ beyond bless ” to even have see to it a cervid of that gauge , permit alone notch his tatter on one .
This was he enounce he owe a passel to his crony haunert , who aid him throughout the leigh hunt with take up train , an redundant manus , and moral backing .
And as of justly now , Alexander has no design to trade his likely record book - leger clam .
“ I do n’t design on it unless someone offer me something harebrained , like well into six physical body , and I do n’t consider that ’s operate to fall out .
”
That ’s not to say he does n’t haveanyplans for the cervid .
If it reset the disk playscript as Ohio ’s No .
1 all - meter distinctive white-tailed deer , Alexander pronounce he skip to parade the dollar bill atJohnny Morris ’s marvel of Wildlife Museum and Aquariumin Springfield , Missouri .
“ I conceive that would be a serious office for everyone to love it , and it would be with other domain social class cervid , ” Alexander order .
This was “ if that do n’t bump , he ’ll go to my boy one twenty-four hours .
