Potential Montana State Record Mule Deer
Montana FWPD regional office manager Fred Schultz holding the potential state record mule deer rack that was confiscated from Kelly Frank’s home.
David Letterman Scandal turns up Potential Montana State Record Muley
Originally featured in the Nov/Dec 2005 issue of Hunting Illustrated
In a strange twist of events involving Montana resident Kelly Frank, Montana Law enforcement authorities have uncovered the rack of a Mule Deer that could possibly be the new Montana state record typical mule deer.
Kelly Frank, who has been charged with plotting to kidnap the infant son of CBS talk show host David Letterman and his nanny in hopes of getting a $5 million ransom and overcharging for some work he performed at the ranch, has now been sentenced for the possession of an illegally taken game animal.
While law enforcement authorities were executing a search warrant on Frank’s home, they found a huge set of mule deer antlers that will rival the current state record. Acting on a tip from an informer that Frank had killed the deer last winter during the closed season, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department (FWPD) game wardens confiscated the antlers.
At his court hearing, Frank pleaded guilty to possessing the antlers, but said although he didn’t personally shoot the buck, he knew it had been illegally killed. In exchange for guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped charges of solicitation to kidnap. Frank received a 10-year sentence on the theft charge and a 5-year sentence on the wildlife charge and was ordered to pay Letterman’s ranch $1,500 and $8,000 to the state.
According to the Montana FWPD, the buck was officially measured for the compensation phase of the lawsuit against the poacher and officially scores 207 7/8 B&C which tops the current state record typical mule deer that was killed in 1983 and scores 205 3/8 B&C. After contacting the Boone & Crockett Club, it is possible that the buck will be accepted as the new state record if it is listed as a “pick up” with ownership going to the Montana State agency ensuring that no credit be given to the poacher.
I didn’t have all the room I wanted to in the magazine to include more information about this story. One question has come up as to how can this buck be entered into the Boone and Crockett record books since it was poached and not taken by Fair Chase standards? That is a good question, but after contacting B&C, they wanted to make sure that the following was elaborated upon to help people understand how this could happen. This is from their response:
“Basically, as ludicrous as it sounds, it obviously wasn’t the deer’s fault it was poached. Some legitimate sportsman was possibly robbed of the opportunity of taking this trophy himself. However, since it was confiscated, the Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is the legitimate owner of this trophy and holds it in trust for all the hunters of Montana. It should be recognized for the conservation efforts it represents of legitimate, Montana sportsmen.”
Therefore, what this means is the poacher could not get this buck entered in the books. However, since the antlers have been confiscated and is now in possesion of the Montana Department of Fish and Wildlife, they have the option to enter it into the books as a “pick up”, with credit going to the Fish and Game. No mention or credit will be given to the poacher.
I also tried to get more information about the buck from the Montana Dept. of Fish and Game. I asked the following questions: How wide is the buck? What is the gross score? What is the Montana FWPD going to do with the antlers? Are you going to submit the score sheet to B&C for official entry into the books? However, all answers were either a “no comment” or “don’t know at this time”.
So what did we learn from all of this? A buck was taken illegally in Montana. It was confiscated by the Montana FWPD. It scores 207 7/8 net typical B&C. It exceeds the current state record. If the Montana FWPD decides to enter the buck into Boone & Crockett (B&C) as a “pick up”, they will accept the buck. The buck has not been submitted to B&C at this time.
I guess we will wait and see what the Montana FWPD decides to do with this great potential state record typical mule deer rack.
UPDATE: (01/23/05) This buck has been submitted and accepted by Boone and Crocket with a score of 207 7/8 net typical. It is classified as a pick up and owner is MT Dept. Fish, Wildl., & Parks with a date of 2004. This buck is now officially the Montana state record typical mule deer.
26 comments November 1st, 2005
