I believe that Darner worked for the Dept of Wildlife in CO, or in some State capacity, and was always in the field. He did know a lot about big mule deer because he was around them every day. The guy I hunted in Sonora, MX with actually was involved in the Darner investigations, actively, and he told me all about it. I had been a big Darner believer and was pretty stunned actually. Turns out Darner either shot most all of those big bucks out of season, or it was even proven he bought some of those antlers from very old timers that killed monster bucks back in the 30's and '40's when there were virtually no pictures. As luck would have it there was an old pic or two of some massive bucks killed by these old timers that Darner wound up with, mounted on new capes, and claimed he killed them. He was stripped of all of his numerous B&C entries because of his poaching and lying. His desire for fame and fortune got the best of him.
I remember reading about him as a kid, in fact I met him at a sportsmans show back in the late 70's or early 80's maybe. Anyway, I went up to his display and bought his book and had him sign it. Its says, To Frank "Good luck hunting" Kirt Darner. Guess it takes more than good luck to kill all those big bucks
Its a pretty good book though for when it was written.
