RED WING, Minn. -- A bow-and-arrow hunter is accused of illegally shooting a trophy white-tailed buck and two additional deer in Goodhue County.
Thirty-two-year-old Troy Alan Reinke of Cannon Falls was charged Thursday with 13 counts of illegally taking a deer.
Court records say Reinke shot the deer on Halloween while hunting on private land. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources believes the buck has the largest set of eight-point antlers ever measured.
The DNR investigation stems from an incident where three deer, including a trophy 8-point buck were killed by archery in three separate incidents near Cannon Falls in October.
According to the complaint Reinke admitted to conservation officers that he had shot a small doe and a small buck on separate dates in early October, and failed to tag or register either of the deer.
Reinke said he shot the large 8-point buck, with a 185 green score, on Halloween evening. A green score is an unofficial score to rate deer antlers (inches of length). Conservation officers seized a bow, two deer racks, the meat from the three deer, and the hide from the large buck as part of their investigation.
Restitution for the small buck and doe is $500 each. Restitution for the trophy buck is $1,000. Reinke also faces other court costs and penalties that could add up to a year in jail, $19,000 in fines and revocation of his hunting license for 3 years.
(Copyright 2009 by the Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
