Michigan Natural Resources Commission considers deer regulation changes
Bill Parker
April 18, 2025
Wisconsin DNR to investigate 300-inch nontypical offered as state record
Wisconsin Dells, Wis. — A 49-point, 300-inch nontypical buck that emerged March 29 at the Open Season Sportsman’s Expo was entered with the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club as a potential new state record.
According to a source close to the situation, the hunter signed affidavits that the buck was a free-range whitetail that he shot with his muzzleloader in December 2024. According to those affidavits, the buck was shot in or near a swamp close to the town of Harrisville, which is about 4.7 miles east of Westfield in Marquette County.
Attempts to contact the hunter have been unsuccessful. Deer and Deer Hunting is not naming the hunter at this time, as this is a developing news story.
In an update to the story on April 10, Deer and Deer Hunting staff wrote that the Wisconsin DNR will investigate the legitimacy of the deer, and board members of the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club will meet on Monday to discuss the recent scoring and acceptance of the buck.
Deer and Deer Hunting also published a story on April 7 with an image of the buck side-by-side with a separate photo they received of an alleged pen-raised Wisconsin buck in velvet. The images show similar features between the racks.
There are two large swamps east of Westfield, including the 1,000-acre Comstock Bog-Meadow State Natural Area, and the 2,400-acre Germania Marsh State Wildlife Area. Comstock Bog-Meadow is owned by the Wisconsin DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1975. The Germania Marsh property offers outdoor recreational opportunities, including public-land deer hunting.
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Much speculation has surrounded the buck since March 29, as the ivory-white rack is unlike any other wild deer killed and entered into the record books in recent memory.
The 49-point rack appeared nearly unblemished – no broken tines and no signs of staining from rubbing on trees and native shrubs.
Thousands of deer hunting enthusiasts saw the shoulder mount of the head on display at the deer expo that weekend. It was part of the annual room of trophy heads scored and displayed by the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club (WBBC).
In addition to signing the WBBC entry form indicating the buck was a fair-chase kill, the hunter also had two individuals corroborate his story by either signing papers or appearing at the expo in person.
Open Season Sportsman’s Expo took place at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on the Deer and Deer Hunting website and is printed with permission.
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55 thoughts on “Wisconsin DNR to investigate 300-inch nontypical offered as state record”
Just asking if that deer in velvet could be photo shop.The fence goes across the tip of the right ear,what about the black back ground,I would be checking the reality of that picture.
As a person who does photoshop work, no, it isn’t. The tip of the ear is nearly the same color as the fence wiring, but it’s clearly a distinct shape in the foreground.
If this was a free-range deer shot during the legal hunting season, there should be photos taken immediately or soon after the deer was recovered and/or field dressed. There’s no way the hunter would not have taken photos. If aren’t any of these photos, I contend it is not a wild, free-range deer taken legally.
If anybody is familiar with the harrisville area. These type of genetics are non-existent in the wild, not to mention this is in all sand country, again there’s not nearly enough minerals naturally to even get close to that size.
Sand country?? Where? I grew up on Germania, that is definitely NOT sand country 🤣
Totally agree with you Kent.
I think everyone needs there eyes check look at the antlers there’s a big difference between left and right and also the one in velvet is a fake background get real someone drew the fence if it is the same deer why is the right side antler so much smaller then the one in velvet they don’t change that much
I agree with you, I shot a big 8 point, and had it in the back of my pickup, when I got home, the first thing I did was have my wife take pictures of it with me standing beside it. Most normal hunters would do that,not wait to have it mounted and then show it. Some thing is fishy.
There is. It’s all blurry and looks like he’s standing over a shoulder mount and not a deer
This right here! Anyone who shoots a legal free range buck of that size would have photos the moment they walked up on it. Im calling bs.
But the strand of wire across several of the top antler tips would not change the shape of anything. It looks like someone missed those areas.
Just my opinion.
the ear tags look suspicious too
I fill sorry for the Guy who said that is a wild buck. It’s is not for several reasons. Witch DNR Already Can See. Not Saying it didn’t Escape witch is possible. But if that deer escaped The owner would have shit himself. And be calling everyone. Those Boys raised that Deer An then shot it Or something close to that
by far the best put comment yet
Good eye dude. Anytime a giant is shot there’s someone who allways thinks the deer was poached somehow someway.. it does look like the same deer but did it escape the pen or what.I believe it’s mostly jealous people but some people do dumb things like poaching or saying a deer is from some other place than were it actually came from. Can’t wait to hear what the DNR comes up with. Thank you.
A poacher shot and killed the Hollywood Cemetery Buck in the middle of Richmond Virginia, then drug him out to the boonies and posed with it like he shot him, there. That buck was famous, and probably the most photographed buck in Virginia. There’s idiots everywhere willing to do awful things for anything that makes them feel superior.
That photo is legit. As stated in the article it is a photo of a pen-raised buck demonstrating what a farm-raised buck looks like. It is a comparison photo, and no need to photoshop it.
It’s the same deer.
Most game ranches have black plastic covering the outside of the fencing to prevent poachers or others from doing bad things
Sounds like the fisherman that fed lead to walleye to steal a fishing contest!
Will be interesting to see where this goes. It is hard to believe, but no answers yet.
When you blow it up it looks like the right ear and the left ear has part of the fence going over the top of the ear why isn’t there any background behind the fence why is the right ear yellow and the left ear green? The buck and velvet doesn’t have the one point that comes off the base of the antler between the two main beams looks like a unicorn point that the taxidermy mounted Buck has. I personally have not noticed the taxidermy deer with the hide that came from the deer after mounting it looks almost twice as large as the deer before it was killed most mountings appear smaller than real life (tanned hides shrink) the color markings on the hide around the nose and the size of the neck is not comparable to the buck in velvet something similar between the two but many differences. A captive buck with that amount of antler that is in itself worth a lot of money when they shed would be real easy to trace where it came from and where it went unless it escaped the pen maybe
That is a summer pic when the deer is not as big in the neck area as it is in the fall. I’ll be keeping up on this story. Ty
3 month turnaround wow
Mount looks pretty crappy too..3 month there n’ back?
Owner didn’t have any money left for a Quality mount???..
The antlers look a bit bleached….
Dies owner have any just killed pics??
The game farm pic compared to the on the floor pic…seems to be the same deer…need a head on look..the bucks Left side G1 looks the same…
I guess it’s possible it escaped from the high fence and he truly believes it’s a wild buck but I feel it’s definitely we are looking at the same deer. I’m sure the truth will come out
Why didn’t we hear about this buck rite after it was shot who wouldn’t bragg about or want it on the news something suspicious about it I personally think the guy is lying but just my opinion which doesn’t mean anything probably a farm raised buck
I doubt it’s legit, and on public land lol. Cash grab by the drunken sconnie!
I was a vendor at this Open Seasons show and personally saw this deer. It was 2 of the only deer submitted with a complete solid white rack. No staining whatsoever. I even said to my co-workers, “Why the phuck wasn’t this deer rubbing his antlers on any trees”. It wouldn’t be the first deer killed on a ranch trying to make it into the books. We’ve should have seen many pics since December if this deer if it was legally shot. Why would you not brag about this deer if it wasn’t swiped with a credit card and shot in a cage?
If you kill a big deer like that you take pictures in the field and videos we have a phone to do everything
There is. It’s all blurry and looks like he’s standing over a shoulder mount and not a deer
Mount looks pretty crappy too..3 month there n’ back?
Owner didn’t have any money left for a Quality mount???..
The antlers look a bit bleached….
Dies owner have any just killed pics??
The game farm pic compared to the on the floor pic…seems to be the same deer…need a head on look..the bucks Left side G1 looks the same…
The buck in velvet has no where near as much white on its face as the mounted buck. The mounted buck has a significant amount of white above its snout and into its forehead/between the eyes.
Must be like bigfoot dodged everyone’s cell cameras also
That rack screams farm
Obviously the game farm deer. There is absolutely no way all those points would be intact on a wild deer shot after the rut. The taxidermist has the answers. He would have had to get a cape without ear tag holes (assume he just the rack to the taxidermist).
Side bet, those guys are from Illinois!
They are not.
If it was from a known deer farm, return to the farm and see if it’s still there or it’s documented sale. It does seem suspicious that there is so much secrecy about it.
Wild deer?? How embarrassing for the hunter and taxidermists 😂.
I lived around here my entire life. I have shot a few large bucks in my day and there is nothing that even compares to that walking around not saying it impossible but them genetics came from somewhere and there not free range… your telling me a 300in buck public land buck got killed in muzzle loader and none of us even heard of it before I highly doubt it
How can l hunter think he is smarter than millions of hunters busted u give real hunters a bad name dick head!
Don’t blame the taxidermist, his job is to mount people’s animals, if they think somethings funny, with good morals maybe contact local wardens
Same deer in both pics. You can pick out distinctive points that match up perfectly. This guy is a fraud and cooked!
I just want my deer mounted that fast
There’s NO WAY this is a free range deer. All of the comments have addressed the normal ware and tare on a (wild) deer, which this deer shows none. Further more, I own a hunting farm (just for myself) near Wolf River, Wisconsin, and I believe on highway M off of county 55 is a deer farm that have deer just like this one.
Almost a mirror image, and this is a publicly available farm to visit. Seems everyone nowadays wants to cheat.
How can l hunter think he is smarter than millions of hunters busted u give real hunters a bad name dick head!
Most points are very valid. I’m focused on the illusiveness of the hunter and the apparent lack of photos at the time of the kill. If I got a buck with half as many points, I’d have told all my friends (and anyone else who’d listen), put it in the papers and posted online. And I’d be with it at the Expo – strutting, pounding my chest and howling at the moon. But in this case “Attempts to contact the hunter have been unsuccessful”, and it just sort of showed up in the Dells? Even the taxidermist just didn’t bother mentioning it to anyone?
All of this just doesn’t pass the smell test.
At the very least, nothing should be entered in the books until all this is cleared up; the hunter wants the record, but if he’s evasive it’s a lie. And someone should see what the laws on Fraud and Perjury have to say.
This may be too “CSI” of a comment, but there must be some meat, skin, hair, bone, not contaminated from the tanning/mounting process left. Couldn’t that material be tested to determine if drugs, minerals, growth hormones etc. were in the deers system?
One more thought here. If this buck is believed to be the one from the penned photo, go to the farm owner. If they’re a legit operation, they’ll have blood test history of the deer for CWD compliance with the DNR. Compare that DNA to the DNA of the hunters deer.
Could it be a game farm escapee and it was shot “in the wild?”
Look like game farm sheds that have been remounted. No photos, no taxidermist. No truth.
I would be hard pressed to say they the same buck based on the pictures available. Many bucks get such racks. This could be a relative of the pictured buck if the genes got out there. The genes came from somewhere. Otherwise interview the game farmer for his input. Kind of like the guy in Michigan that every body criticesized and he said screw it. Be positive. Look at the small points and evaluate. The dnr may get.it right.
No question the 2 pictures are of the same exact buck. The right brow tine is so unique between the curve and the split plus extra sticker points.The right and left beam having stickers between the brow and G2 that are very unique and in both pictures. Bucks do jump fences but regardless of that fact, this is a buck on steroids thanks to mineral licks and does not belong in record books. Reputable taxidermists would not produce a terrible mount like this either. Even the taxidermy itself screams con artist because we all know how long real quality taxidermists that would handle a once in a lifetime buck like this would take to get us our heads back and it’s not 3 months.
If you believe this is a legit harvested deer….I have some oceanfront priority to sell you in Kansas for 1,200 an acre!
Same deer in both pictures. EVERY point is the same in each picture. As a taxidermist, word spreads like wildfire and know one heard a thing about this buck until a couple weeks ago. Impossible unless it was taken illegally. This is an easy one here folks.