Accused record-breaking buck poacher blames someone else

Photo via DNR

A DNR officer displays the confiscated rack

​Remember Troy Alan Reinke, the bow hunter who said he bagged a recording-breaking white-tailed buck and got his trophy kill splattered all over the local press and airwaves, only to have Minnesota DNR say he took the beast illegally? He's back. And he's saying that someone else killed the deer.


Reinke, of Cannon Falls, originally told DNR investigators that he took the eight-point buck on Halloween with a bow. The issue: His license allowed him to take just one deer of either sex, but authorities say he took three total. He was charged with 13 poaching-related counts.

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Authorities said his tag should have gone to one of the first two deer, both reportedly shot in early October. Reinke allegedly waited to fill his tag until killing the trophy buck, shot Oct. 31. Consequently, all three were taken illegally, according to the charges.

Then, DNR investigators discovered that the buck had in fact been killed with a gun, contradicting Reinke's story.

Now, Reinke says someone else shot the buck, and he claimed it as his.

The investigation continues.