By Dave Hurteau

Remember this colossal Illinois nontypical? We reported on the buck in this very space two short falls ago, and we mentioned it in our annual "Booner Awards," which highlights the latest entries in the Boone & Crockett record book, in the magazine the following summer. The 37-point goliath arrowed by Chris Kiernan in 2009 fell just short of breaking the Prairie State archery record for nontypicals, after a panel-scoring session of the Pope & Young Club earlier this year. Now, the mounted head is the property of the state of Illinois, and Kiernan—suddenly getting a very different type of publicity—is charged with 41 separate wildlife violations, some related to the very buck pictured here.

Here are the details according to a story in the Morris (IL) Daily Herald. Kiernan was charged with illegally taking the huge nontypical, and several other trophy bucks, from property owned by the Material Service Corporation. He was also cited for illegally hunting in Grundy County, illegally possessing the skull caps and antlers from deer, and failure to tag animals he had shot. All charges against Kiernan are criminal misdemeanors.

In addition to Kiernan, hunters from Ontario, Canada, and Avon, New York, have been charged with illegally hunting the Material Services property in the fall of 2009. The charges stem from a cooperative investigation between Illinois Conservation officers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife agents, and officers from the New York DEC and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

UPDATE: Kiernan Pleads Guilty to Hunting Charges

Comments (12)

from matouse3 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

What a scumbag

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from rminard wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Wow I remember this from that time, Grundy Co. is only about 25 miles from where I live.

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from wildcaller11 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

that is just wrong. if it is what i think, that would be like me shooting deer after deer on say, Stryker or Pfizer land, i have seen big buck from the road, but no deer is worth trespassing, and there for illegally killing.

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from chaslee wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Another opportunity taken away from an ethical hunter by a bum.

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from troyalexander508 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Seeing something like this really sucks. Great deer taken away by one man doing it all illegally. Taking chances away from the people who put the hard work in the right way

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from buckhunter wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Appears he has a bad habit of trespassing and not tagging his deer.

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from wgiles wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Many people feel like they have a right to hunt on company land. It often takes a visit from the sheriff or conservation police to convince them that they don't. I ran into this problem with a group of duck hunters on one of our ponds. They said that they had permission to hunt there, but they didn't have. At the time, we had people working a few hundred feet away cleaning a ditch. I didn't want to have them arrested, just get across to them that they really did not have permission to hunt there. We can't allow hunting on our active properties, it's just too dangerous. We do allow hunting on inactive properties, but each hunter must have a permission slip in his possession.

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from Sarge01 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

I have had several cases like this. People think they should be able to shoot a big buck wherever they see it.
Another product of the antler craze. As long as we try to get the "big score" you are going to have these idiots shooting wherever they want to. I hope they burn his a##.

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from Michael Winkler wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

That is a great buck. But stories like this are sad to see. I can't imagine having the chance to take a deer half this size legally. Let alone one that huge.

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from Huntit8848 wrote 1 year 31 weeks ago

I learned to hunt at age 31. I hunted for two years before I got my first doe and a few weeks latter I had a buck. I am 48 now and never have I or will I do something that can tarnish the sport. I hope they take his privlages away for life.

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from Randy Long wrote 1 year 31 weeks ago

Come on its Illinois, that should be red flags for corruption from the get go.

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from wildartstech wrote 1 year 15 weeks ago

Surprised they aren't testing the deer for unusually high levels of testosterone.

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from troyalexander508 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Seeing something like this really sucks. Great deer taken away by one man doing it all illegally. Taking chances away from the people who put the hard work in the right way

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from chaslee wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Another opportunity taken away from an ethical hunter by a bum.

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from matouse3 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

What a scumbag

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from rminard wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Wow I remember this from that time, Grundy Co. is only about 25 miles from where I live.

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from wildcaller11 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

that is just wrong. if it is what i think, that would be like me shooting deer after deer on say, Stryker or Pfizer land, i have seen big buck from the road, but no deer is worth trespassing, and there for illegally killing.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from buckhunter wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Appears he has a bad habit of trespassing and not tagging his deer.

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from wgiles wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

Many people feel like they have a right to hunt on company land. It often takes a visit from the sheriff or conservation police to convince them that they don't. I ran into this problem with a group of duck hunters on one of our ponds. They said that they had permission to hunt there, but they didn't have. At the time, we had people working a few hundred feet away cleaning a ditch. I didn't want to have them arrested, just get across to them that they really did not have permission to hunt there. We can't allow hunting on our active properties, it's just too dangerous. We do allow hunting on inactive properties, but each hunter must have a permission slip in his possession.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Sarge01 wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

I have had several cases like this. People think they should be able to shoot a big buck wherever they see it.
Another product of the antler craze. As long as we try to get the "big score" you are going to have these idiots shooting wherever they want to. I hope they burn his a##.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Michael Winkler wrote 1 year 32 weeks ago

That is a great buck. But stories like this are sad to see. I can't imagine having the chance to take a deer half this size legally. Let alone one that huge.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Huntit8848 wrote 1 year 31 weeks ago

I learned to hunt at age 31. I hunted for two years before I got my first doe and a few weeks latter I had a buck. I am 48 now and never have I or will I do something that can tarnish the sport. I hope they take his privlages away for life.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Randy Long wrote 1 year 31 weeks ago

Come on its Illinois, that should be red flags for corruption from the get go.

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from wildartstech wrote 1 year 15 weeks ago

Surprised they aren't testing the deer for unusually high levels of testosterone.

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.