Post by Woody Williams on Aug 11, 2009 20:06:52 GMT -5
Pair charged with taking 26-point buck after gun season
By AARON MARTIN
Staff Reporter
Pictured is the 26-point rack of a trophy buck that was allegedly illegally shot with a gun during bow hunting season on Dec. 31. The rack, which measured 27 inches, had an unofficial Pope & Young score of 229.
Trophy bucks have long been the subject of barroom banter and cult-classic songs in the Northwoods.
But a 26-point buck — the 37th largest recorded in state history — forged new ground when it become the subject of criminal charges.
Anthony W. Nisiewicz, 24, of Horicon, is accused of illegally shooting the prize buck near Horicon with a shotgun during bow hunting season on Dec. 31.
He faces six charges, including being a party to possessing game during a closed season and failing to attach an ear tag to a carcass.
Wayne A. Nisiewicz, 45, Anthony's father, also faces charges of being a party to possessing game during a closed season and obstructing a conservation warden.
Mark Miller, an official Pope & Young measurer, said the buck scored an unofficial 229 points in the organization's non-typical category.
"There's two different categories deer are measured into, typical or non-typical. The non-typical category bucks have a lot of extra points in non-typical locations. That's what made this buck fall into a non-typical category," Miller said.
With a 27-inch inside spread and horns covering 40 inches of a rack that measured 6 1/2 inches at its base, Miller said, it's the 37th largest buck ever recorded in the state of Wisconsin.
"If it had been shot with a bow and arrow, it would be the No. 3 or No. 4 bow kill ever recorded in the state," Miller said. "Ninety percent of people in the state have never seen a buck like this."
DNR conservation warden Paul Nell launched an investigation when a number of people reported hearing suspicious gunfire near Wayne Nisiewicz's home at N7115 Highway TW in Horicon on Dec. 31.
Anthony Nisiewicz told Nell he had shot the buck with a bow and arrow on the morning of Jan. 1 while he hunted behind an building on the Nisiewicz property, according to a criminal complaint.
Anthony said an arrow struck the deer behind the shoulder and passed through its body; the deer ran five or 10 feet and went down. He said he then registered the deer at Wild Goose Station in Mayville.
Wayne Nisiewicz also reportedly told Nell that Anthony had shot the buck with a bow and arrow on Jan. 1, however, would not tell Nell the exact location of the kill.
According to a complaint, Nell also received photos from a confidential informant that showed the buck carcass in a shed on the Nisiewicz property without ear tags. It's a DNR violation to not immediately tag carcasses.
When Nell obtained a search warrant and sent the deer parts to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, a forensic scientist concluded that two of the holes in the deer carcass contained lead particles, which indicated a bullet had passed through the carcass.
"When people see buck like that, there's a temptation and it's unfortunate, we allege, that there was a wrong choice made," Nell said. "It was late in the season. That deer could have maybe made it through the season. We only had a couple days of the archery season left."
Miller said that the buck's prize rack would have continued to grow had it survived.
"This deer, according to how it was aged, hadn't reached it's truest potential. So, in theory, if it had made it through another year ... it would have put on anywhere between 10 and 20 more inches of horn. He could have potentially been a state record."
The Nisiewiczs will make their initial Dodge County Circuit Court appearances on misdemeanor charges Aug. 17.
amartin@capitlanewspapers.com
www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/461542
By AARON MARTIN
Staff Reporter
Pictured is the 26-point rack of a trophy buck that was allegedly illegally shot with a gun during bow hunting season on Dec. 31. The rack, which measured 27 inches, had an unofficial Pope & Young score of 229.Trophy bucks have long been the subject of barroom banter and cult-classic songs in the Northwoods.
But a 26-point buck — the 37th largest recorded in state history — forged new ground when it become the subject of criminal charges.
Anthony W. Nisiewicz, 24, of Horicon, is accused of illegally shooting the prize buck near Horicon with a shotgun during bow hunting season on Dec. 31.
He faces six charges, including being a party to possessing game during a closed season and failing to attach an ear tag to a carcass.
Wayne A. Nisiewicz, 45, Anthony's father, also faces charges of being a party to possessing game during a closed season and obstructing a conservation warden.
Mark Miller, an official Pope & Young measurer, said the buck scored an unofficial 229 points in the organization's non-typical category.
"There's two different categories deer are measured into, typical or non-typical. The non-typical category bucks have a lot of extra points in non-typical locations. That's what made this buck fall into a non-typical category," Miller said.
With a 27-inch inside spread and horns covering 40 inches of a rack that measured 6 1/2 inches at its base, Miller said, it's the 37th largest buck ever recorded in the state of Wisconsin.
"If it had been shot with a bow and arrow, it would be the No. 3 or No. 4 bow kill ever recorded in the state," Miller said. "Ninety percent of people in the state have never seen a buck like this."
DNR conservation warden Paul Nell launched an investigation when a number of people reported hearing suspicious gunfire near Wayne Nisiewicz's home at N7115 Highway TW in Horicon on Dec. 31.
Anthony Nisiewicz told Nell he had shot the buck with a bow and arrow on the morning of Jan. 1 while he hunted behind an building on the Nisiewicz property, according to a criminal complaint.
Anthony said an arrow struck the deer behind the shoulder and passed through its body; the deer ran five or 10 feet and went down. He said he then registered the deer at Wild Goose Station in Mayville.
Wayne Nisiewicz also reportedly told Nell that Anthony had shot the buck with a bow and arrow on Jan. 1, however, would not tell Nell the exact location of the kill.
According to a complaint, Nell also received photos from a confidential informant that showed the buck carcass in a shed on the Nisiewicz property without ear tags. It's a DNR violation to not immediately tag carcasses.
When Nell obtained a search warrant and sent the deer parts to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, a forensic scientist concluded that two of the holes in the deer carcass contained lead particles, which indicated a bullet had passed through the carcass.
"When people see buck like that, there's a temptation and it's unfortunate, we allege, that there was a wrong choice made," Nell said. "It was late in the season. That deer could have maybe made it through the season. We only had a couple days of the archery season left."
Miller said that the buck's prize rack would have continued to grow had it survived.
"This deer, according to how it was aged, hadn't reached it's truest potential. So, in theory, if it had made it through another year ... it would have put on anywhere between 10 and 20 more inches of horn. He could have potentially been a state record."
The Nisiewiczs will make their initial Dodge County Circuit Court appearances on misdemeanor charges Aug. 17.
amartin@capitlanewspapers.com
www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/461542
