Someone Poached a 214-Inch Buck and a New Deputy Botched the Investigation

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can help them figure out who poached a giant buck in Louisa County in early August. Iowa DNR conservation officer Joe Fourdyce says he’s waiting for helpful phone calls after a botched law enforcement response resulted in the buck’s carcass getting thrown away at a local transfer station before it could be entered into evidence.

After waking up on the morning of Aug. 1 to find the giant deer dead by his driveway, a local landowner called the sheriff’s department. Fourdyce and another local conservation officer were both out of town at the time, so a newly-hired sheriff’s deputy responded to the call.

“The landowner saw some blood in the gravel road next to his house, so he thought the buck got hit by a car,” Fourdyce says. “But he tracked the blood back a ways and realized the buck had actually been shot. The deputy got there and also confirmed that it had been shot. But he was brand new, and didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to issue a salvage tag.”  

The deputy mistakingly issued the landowner a salvage tag without realizing the deer’s body was actually evidence, Fourdyce says. In the state of Iowa, sheriff’s deputies can only issue salvage tags for roadkill, not animals that appear to have been poached.

The landowner then cut the head off and brought it to a nearby taxidermist, who pointed out that salvage tags don’t allow for taxidermy in Iowa. By that time, the sheriff’s deputy had brought the rest of the carcass to the local transfer station, Fourdyce says.

The incident happened a half-mile from Fourdyce’s own house. He had seen the buck browsing by the road in broad daylight on multiple occasions. He estimates the buck was roughly 4.5 years old. Fourdyce thinks the buck, which the taxidermist green-scored at 214 inches, might have grown at least another 1.5 inches of antler last month before shedding his velvet for the year.

According to photos of the deer Fourdyce is using in the investigation, he suspects that it was shot in the hindquarter with a broadhead. Iowa’s archery season doesn’t open until Oct. 1.

Questions continue to swirl around the case. The sheriff’s department confirmed they were involved in a deer poaching investigation but did not immediately offer any comment on the situation. The investigation remains open at this time, although the lack of a carcass will present a minor roadblock. Fourdyce was able to recover the head from the taxidermist and currently has the antlers in his possession.

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“Everything always happens during the worst times. That’s how things go for a game warden,” Fourdyce says. “I wish I had better news. But right now I’m just hoping someone will call.” 

Folks with helpful information can reach conservation officer Joe Fourdyce at 563-260-1225. They can also anonymously report information to Iowa’s poaching tip hotline at 800-532-2020.