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Lovstuen buck sold to Bass Pro
Shops; reports suggest "We do own the deer," said Bass Pro Shops spokesman Larry Whitely. After the rack is displayed at the National Wild Turkey Federation Convention it will be returned to Springfield, where it will join the 225 other whitetail deer heads that Bass Pro Shops displays, Whitely said. Whitely indicated the Lovstuen buck's set of antlers also will be shown at different locations and other corporate and outdoor-related events in the future.Whitely indicated that there were several reasons for the purchase. "One is that our founder, Johnny Morris, has a passion for those deer heads," Whitely said. "They're like fingerprints; God only created one of (them). They're like artwork, one of a kind." The growing assemblage of Bass Pro Shops deer antlers, dubbed the "King of Bucks" collection, contains some of the sport's finest whitetails, according to Whitely. The second-ranked Boone & Crockett non-typical Hole in the Horn buck and former B&C world-record typical Jordan buck (now No. 2 in the category) have found a home with Bass Pro Shops, as well as numerous state and national records, Whitely said. "These are the original racks, not replicas," Whitely declined to put a price tag on the Lovstuen buck transaction. The hunter's father, Doug Lovstuen, also declined to put a price on the non-typical rack, indicating such details were between his family and Bass Pro Shops. "I'm not going to comment at all on the price," the elder Lovstuen said. "You're going to hear all kinds of things on the price. I can tell you that most of what I've heard is untrue." "I'm still working, if that means anything."The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports the Lovstuen buck may have fetched close to $100,000. Doug Lovstuen said his family will have a set of replica antlers to display at hunting and trade shows. He and Whitely indicated that while the details remain to be worked out, Tony Lovstuen will make Bass Pro Shops appearances with the actual set of non-typical antlers. After panel scoring of the rack is completed this spring, Doug Lovstuen indicated the deer will be entered in the Boone & Crockett records, with his son listed as the hunter and Bass Pro Shops listed as the owner of the rack. Still, the elder Lovstuen admitted it was difficult to part with the actual rack itself. "It was a hard decision to make, whether it was right or wrong," he said. "(Tony) did have the final say in it, but he didn't have any problems with it," he said. "It beats (the rack) being locked up in my safe forever. That's not where it belongs." Doug Lovstuen is hopeful life will soon settle back down to normal for his family. "To sell the deer works out good for us," Lovstuen said. "Everyone is interested in the deer, but, unfortunately, we couldn't keep entertaining everyone who wanted to come out and look at the deer. "Plus, there were the issues of fire and theft. I think that Bass Pro Shops is a good place for the deer to be. It's a world-class buck, and I always said that it needed to be in some sort of museum. "Everyone can see it now, whenever they want."With the Springfield location of Bass Pro Shops annually drawing as many as 4 million visitors, Whitely agreed the door is now effectively open for anyone wanting to see the historic set of antlers from what should prove to be the largest whitetail buck ever harvested by a hunter. "I don't know where else in the world that that deer head would give so many people the opportunity to actually see it," Whitely said. "Can you imagine that thing hanging there with the Hole in the Horn and with the Jordan buck? Oh my goodness." |
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(Score, hunter, location, year.) 1. 333 7/8, Picked up, St. Louis County,
Missouri, 1981
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Bi-state poachers hit with heavy fines: Courtesy "South Missourian" 6-17-04 Shooting deer illegally in Iowa and bringing them to the Show Me State to be checked as legal kills may have seemed like a slick idea to three Missouri men, but the scheme cost them more than $20,000. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources learned of the three’s activities in February through an anonymous tip on their Turn In Poachers hotline. The Missouri Department of Conservation got wind of the violations through its Operation Game Thief (OGT) hotline, and the two agencies coordinated their investigations. Conservation officers discovered that the trio had used archery gear to take five deer without permits in Iowa. They brought the deer back to Missouri, where they checked them as legal archery kills, thereby breaking laws in two states. James A. Sheats Jr., 34, of Eldon; Robert D. Reeves, 34, of Lebanon; and Jeff R. Farris, 25, of Camdenton, were charged with hunting without permits and taking deer unlawfully. The three paid a total of $1,029 in fines for the Iowa violations. Under Iowa law, violators can be assessed as much as $4,000 damages for the value of each deer taken illegally and can forfeit equipment used to commit violations. The three paid $16,000 in damages and forfeited $2,500 worth of equipment for a total cost of $19,523. In Missouri, Farris and Sheats each paid $154.50 in fines. Reeves’ Missouri case has not been resolved yet. Besides the monetary penalties, all three have had their hunting privileges revoked for three years. Conservation agents also confiscated deer mounts and antlers that scored 132, 148, 151 and 205 on the Pope and Young scoring system. The three actually got off relatively easy. Transporting illegally taken deer across state lines is a violation of the federal Lacey Act. Under that law, their fines could have been $100,000 per count. Morgan County Conservation Agent Kurt Heisler is one of the Missouri officers who worked on the case. He said it illustrates the importance of private citizens in stopping poaching. “Conservation agents can’t be everywhere all the time,” said Heisler. “We rely heavily on the help of people who are outraged by poaching. Picking up the phone and calling the nearest sheriff’s department or Conservation Department office is the best way to put a stop to game theft.” One of the deer had been entered in the records of the Pope and Young Club. The club honors hunters who take outstanding deer with bows and arrows. Pope and Young spokesman Glen Hisey said the club takes wildlife violations very seriously. He said that any record kills involving wildlife violations are removed from the club’s books, and the person who entered it is permanently barred from the club’s record book. OGT is sponsored by the
Conservation Department in cooperation with the Conservation
Federation of Missouri. The toll-free hot line allows citizens to
make anonymous reports of game and fish violations. The program
also offers cash rewards for tips leading to the arrest of game
law violators or forest arsonists. The OGT number is 800/392-1111.
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Lovstuen buck ascends to the throne, barely. Courtesy ESPNOutdoors.com Boone & Crockett judges' panel reduces
Iowa whitetail's final score; 2001 Illinois buck nearly overtakes
it for top hunter-harvested deer KANSAS CITY, Kan. — On a cloudy Saturday in June, Smarty Jones, the people's horse, was nipped at the wire in his bid for horse-racing immortality when the forgotten Birdstone slipped up on the outside to take the Belmont Stakes. A similar tale nearly unfolded in America's heartland in recent days as the nation's deer-hunting crowd awaited the coronation of the remarkable Iowa non-typical whitetail deer harvested last Sept. 29 in Monroe County by teen-ager Tony Lovstuen. What had been viewed by some as a mere formality in the Lovstuen buck's ascension to the Boone and Crockett Club's throne for a hunter harvested whitetail provided not one, but two surprising scoring twists — including a bona fide challenger to the big-deer throne.The Lovstuen buck originally was given a 60-day entry score of
319 4/8 inches. But a B&C panel of
16 people (10 measurers, five consultants and one panel chairman)
lowered the Lovstuen buck's final score by nearly 12 inches,
according to Jack Reneau, the director of big-game records for
Boone & Crockett. "The panel score is 307 5/8
inches," Reneau said. "It's the largest whitetail ever
recorded by the Boone & Crockett Club that has been taken by a
hunter." (Note: Two pick-up entries remain ahead of the
Lovstuen Buck in the B&C record book — the 333 7/8 inch
"Missouri monarch" world record non-typical whitetail
and the runner-up 328 2/8 inch "Hole in the horn" buck
from Ohio.) However, as the Lovstuen
buck was heading for the finish line, a Land of Lincoln whitetail
challenger came up hard and fast on the outside to nearly steal
the show.
That deer was the massive non-typical whitetail taken by Jerry
Bryant on Nov. 15, 2001, in Illinois' Fulton County with a
crossbow — a buck originally given an entry score of 291 1/8
inches. When all of the numbers from the Illinois giant were
tallied, the deer nearly had enough inches on its own score sheet
to make a bid for the throne as the largest hunter harvested
whitetail of all-time. "The judges' final score (on the
Bryant buck) was 304 3/8 inches," Reneau said. "That
makes this the second largest whitetail ever taken by a
hunter." Second largest by a mere 2 7/8 inches, that is!
How could two deer that began the 25th B&C Awards Program
panel scoring session more than 27 inches apart be so close when
the final numbers were added up? Simple, says Reneau. The pair of
non-typical racks are about as complicated as two sets of
whitetail antlers can be. "It's actually the interpretation
of the whole rack, what's normal and abnormal on both racks,"
Reneau said. "There is no reflection on any bad measuring or
anything like that from those who measured and provided us with
the previous 60-day entry scores. "These are both very
difficult trophies to measure."
Both deer — all 612 3/8 inches of them combined — are on
display at the Cabela's Kansas City, Kan., store location as
B&C preps for its 25th Awards Program Banquet on June 19.
"Those two (deer) are in the same place right now and a
person could go in and take a look at the two largest whitetails
ever harvested by a hunter being displayed there together,"
Reneau said. In addition to the Lovstuen and Bryant whitetails,
more than 100 big game trophies are on display in Kansas City,
including nine new B&C world records. Those records include
new B&C benchmarks for bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, musk
ox, Roosevelt's elk, tule elk, non-typical Columbia blacktail
deer, non-typical Sitka blacktail deer and non-typical Coues'
whitetail deer. Still, the two massive Midwestern non-typical
whitetails are likely to garner much of the attention over the
next few days.
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The modification program is being offered to owners of all Remington bolt-action rifles manufactured before 1982. Remington says that the program was initiated in part as a response to the death of Gus Barber, who was accidentally shot by his mother in October 2000, as she was unloading her Remington 700 bolt-action rifle. The Barber family says that the presence of a bolt-lock mechanism required Barbara Barber to release the safety in order to open the bolt to eject the chambered round. Immediately upon releasing the safety, the rifle unexpectedly discharged. Barber says that her finger was not on the gun’s trigger. Remington is offering to replace the bolts and clean and inspect the rifles for $20 each. The rifles will then be returned with a $20 coupon toward the purchase of Remington products, the company announced on its Web site. For more information, visit www.remington.com/Safety_Modification_Program/remington_safety.htm.
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| Conservation Commission halts plans to reintroduce elk into Missouri. The threat of Chronic Wasting Disease being transferred with the elk imported from western states has stopped all efforts for the foreseeable future. Full report. |
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Game Tracker Inc. is recalling 25,000 climbing sticks and tree steps sold nationwide because the buckles can fail, possibly causing serious injury to hunters using them. Equipment involved in this recall are Gorilla Ultralite Climbing Sticks and their Strap-on Tree Steps.
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Sportsmen Go On Offense Against Animal-Rights Terrorism ....Courtesy North American Hunting Club The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) unveiled a new plan last week to help fight animal- and environmental-rights terrorism. The USSA, formerly the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America, is launching this effort to pass new legislation across all 50 states to recognize and penalize these types of acts. The FBI is now calling two of the most radical groups, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and associated Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the most active domestic terrorism organizations. The legislation would also help law enforcement officials identify some of the animal-rights organizations that might have been providing assistance to the ELF and ALF. The U.S. Department of Justice announced in 1997 that animal-rights terrorism had caused more than $150 million in damages. The ELF alone has claimed responsibility for more than $40 million in damages since 1997. The FBI admits that it has a long way to go to be able to deal with eco-terrorism. For a copy of the animal-rights report or an overview of animal-rights organizations in America, contact the USSA at: (614) 888-4868.
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Senate Bill 1683. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkins (D-IA) would provide assistance to the 48 states that operate support programs to help process game meat and deliver it to food banks to help feed the hungry. "Few people realize the difference that America's hunters are making in the fight against hunger," Harkin said. "Thousands of hunters across the nation are doing a tremendous good for their communities and the federal government should do what it can to help." Harkin's bill would authorize states to use administrative funds from the Emergency Food Assistance Program to help pay for the processing costs of donated wild game. This bill would also increase the administrative funds from $50 million to $70 million.
See our list for Missouri Charities if you are interested in donating part of your next deer to help feed the hungry. Let's all do our part to help.
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PeTA Activists Hit Deer While Driving, Sue New Jersey Fish And Wildlife Division....Courtesy North American Hunting Club When a car driven by two People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) activists hit a deer in New Jersey last November, PeTA saw red. As a result of that accident, PeTA has faxed a notice to Bob McDowell, director of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, and John Bradway, chairman of the New Jersey Fish and Game Council, making them aware of PeTA’s intent to sue them over of the accident. PeTA claims that the accident--as well as thousands more that take place every year--was “ … caused by the state’s mismanagement of the deer population, which includes purposely increasing the size of the state’s deer herd in order to provide more live targets for hunters and so jeopardizes the well-being of people who use the roads.” PeTA says that by placing the interests of hunters, who it says amount to barely more than 1 percent of New Jersey’s population, above the safety of the more than 8 million New Jersey residents and countless out-of-state travelers who use the roads, wildlife agencies are violating the state’s constitutional mandate to provide protection and security to its people. A copy of PeTA’s letter to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife can be viewed at www.peta.org/news/NewsItem.asp?id=685.
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