The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) licensed Troy Alan Reinke to shoot one deer with a bow and arrow. Instead, Reinke shot three deer with a rifle, including what could well be the world’s largest eight-point buck (190 gross and 185 net). Out of season. The DNR’s enforcement division collared the poacher; the DA charged Reinke with 16 counts of illegally hunting and possessing deer. He plead out, admitting only to possessing the prize. For his trouble, Goodhue County court sentenced Reinke to one year in jail and $2,083 in fines, restitution and court costs. With time served on an assault charge, Reinker will spend just 125 days behind bars. The Minnestora hunting community is pissed. “I’m glad he got nailed with jail time,” Mark Johnson of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association told twincities.com. “But if it hadn’t been for his probation violations, it would have been a slap on the wrist.” Johnson said the street value of the eight-point rack, the largest ever scored by big-game hunting clubs, would have been in excess of $100,000. “It puts this (poaching incident) in a totally different class,” Johnson said.
