Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 31 point Whitetail - confiscated

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Photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation shows Tillman County, Okla., resident Michael Crossland posing in November 2004 with a 31-point Whitetail deer he killed. The trophy deer is expected to be a new state record, but has been confiscated by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation because of a legal dispute over whether Crossland had permission to hunt on the land.

Let this be a lesson to anyone that takes a trophy like this one pictured here! I know Micheal Crossland very well and saw him grow up and graduate with my oldest daughter. This animal was taken only ten miles from where I live. Micheal and his father both worked for the landowner in the past and did up until late last year. Micheal traveled to and from the hunt in the landowners pickup with a friend and had always had permission to hunt these lands in the past as he was involved in conservation efforts through FFA and recieved many awards in this area of wildlife conservation. The problem arose after Micheal took this animal and the landowner realised how much a trophy like this is worth monetarily. Bass Pro shops and others have offered many thousands to purchase the mount. The landowner never had a problem with Micheal hunting before and was very selective about who they did let hunt and he was probably one of the few outside of family members that could because of his commitment to conservation efforts. Money obviously changes people. The landowner has made a fool of himself over this issue and the local DA had to give Micheal a mis demeanor charge because Micheal did not have a "written permission" slip in his pocket at the time of the hunt as state law requires. This would never have been an issue had there not been so much money involved. Micheal personally helped myself and others in wild turkey restocking efforts in this part of the state and has been a good steward of the land. My support goes to him. Once again let this be a lesson to all if you should knock down a trophy of this magnitude you had better document EVERYTHING!!!!!

I have a feeling that situations like this one, among other types of "misunderstandings," are the reason that some states are now requiring written permission for non-family members to hunt private property. Oklahoma's neighbor to the east, Arkansas, just started requiring written permission a few years ago (within past five years).

It's a sad commentary on our times when even something like permission to hunt has to be documented with a signature, but those are the times we live in, and written permission is certainly not a bad idea when you consider the situation Michael Crossland is in, facing not only losing his trophy, but also facing possible jail time and fines.

A friend, after much door knocking,located a farm on which to deer hunt in Chester Co. Pa.The farmer also a hunter cited excessive crop damage.During the course of one of his hunts my friend shot a huge whitetail.One of the largest ever killed in that area. He is no longer welcome on that farm.Hmmmm.....

Like I keep sayin ' - leasing ain't all bad!

Got an update on Micheal Crossland's case. Micheal requested the Game Dept. to hold the mount in question and delivered it to them until this can be resolved. The case goes to court on July 1st. He feared the mount might be stolen and the landowner had stated they would come take it! Nice folks. The case for tresspassing against him is very weak as the local DA and game officer did not want to prosecute but the landowner pressed the Attorney Generals office by pulling political strings and forced the issue. I understand that if Micheal loses this case neither he or the landowner will get the possesion of the mount but the state will hold it. If Micheal wins the landowner being as vindictive as he is will probably take it to civil court. Don't ya just hate bullies...

okie - hate is far too mild a word for my feelings about bullies in any form.

Boy, what is thin nation coming to? Kill a big deer and have a jealous guy claim it was killed on "his" land and have it taken from you.

There is more to this story than meets the eye. Firstly, that deer was not owened by anyone. All deer are owned by the government until harvested. Once harvested, they become property of the licensed hunters. Now if the landowner is claiming that he owned the deer as private property, and if he had necessary permits for same, that is a different story. But I do not think this is the case here because the hunter would have been arrested for grand theft!


Good huntin',

Leon

You hit the nail right on the head. If the state finds that the shooter was in violation of state law by not having a "written permission" in hand at the time of the hunt he'll end up having that mount confiscated as poached game as would any other illegally taken game may be fined and have his hunting license revoked too. There are many things out there that will sour a relationship quickly, trophy game heads are just one. Sorry state of affairs.

This situation doesn't surpise me in the least!
Just take a look at the donnybrook that ensued over the Broder buck (world record non typical mule deer)
Seems the "guardian" of this rack ( a relative) said tthat broder wanted him to take care of it and he wasn't giving it up. The rest of the family wanted to sell it or something when they found out what it was sowrth to a collector.
As it turns out the "gaurdaian " had already sold it to someone else!
I think the rack was returned, and a civil thing is being carried out.

Catnthehat

That is just pure bullshitt I hope he get to keep the deer he shot.