# Head Hunt



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Head hunt: Who will get family pet/trophy buck?
CHRIS NISKANEN/Pioneer Press

Craig Keefe has no intentions of giving up the head of a trophy 10-point buck he shot on public land in Cass County this fall, even if the owners of deer No. 27 haul him into court.

"I'm not worried about it because I don't think they have a leg to stand on,'' said Keefe, 31, who lives near Backus. "I'm just more excited about getting it back from the taxidermist."

Kerry and Rachel Krumwiede of Pine River say Keefe's buck was a valuable pet at their small deer hobby farm. It escaped around Nov. 1, just before deer season, after a bear tore open the fence of their deer pen.

"As our pet, I don't want it hanging on his wall,'' Kerry Krumwiede said last week. "I think I'm entitled to the animal anyway because it's my property."

The bitter custody case over the buck's head is not only one of the most unusual incidents from Minnesota's deer season, but it also highlights the growing conflict between Minnesota's domestic deer and elk producers and the hunting community.

The Department of Natural Resources says Keefe did nothing wrong Nov. 7 when he killed and tagged the trophy buck, which could be identified only by a yellow ear tag, about the size of a matchbook, with the number 27. DNR conservation officer Nikki Shoutz said Keefe shot the deer 3½ miles from the Krumwiede farm and legally tagged and registered it.

The DNR is no longer involved in the case, said Shoutz's supervisor, Tom Provost, adding, "Now, it's a civil action.''

State animal-health officials say the Krumwiedes also followed the law by reporting the escaped deer to the DNR within the required 24 hours and attempting to find the deer and recapture it.

Deer No. 27, however, made the fatal mistake of stepping out of a swamp 70 yards from Keefe, a deer hunter since age 9.

TAG AND TROUBLE

"The tag was in its right ear, and I had a left-side, broadside shot,'' said Keefe, who has several other trophy deer on his wall. "He walked around a bottleneck in the swamp like a big buck would, looking pretty proud. I didn't see the tag."

Thrilled to see such a big buck, Keefe killed it. "I went over and poked it with my rifle. It didn't move. I got my brother (Nick) and he came over. We hunt and fish together all the time.''

But when they grabbed the deer's antlers and picked it up, Nick said, "'Wait, there's a tag.''

"What do you mean, there's a tag?" Craig responded.

"Look at his ear," Nick said.

And that's when Craig Keefe's trouble began.

He called Shoutz, who told him it was likely the Krumwiede buck. DNR officials wanted to test the deer for disease but couldn't contact Keefe in time. Because of warm weather, Keefe said he wanted to process the deer quickly and get it to a taxidermist to avoid spoilage.

Keefe said he also called the Krumwiedes as a "courtesy." Additional heated phone calls have occurred, during which Keefe said the Krumwiedes have threatened to take him to court to get the head back.

"I believe I've been civil, but I don't like being threatened with an attorney,'' Keefe said.

Kerry Krumwiede refused to comment about any possible legal action.

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE

The crux of the legal argument appears to be this: Is the head of deer No. 27 considered a body part of legal livestock and is thus private property of the Krumwiedes? Or did deer No. 27 become fair legal game when it wandered onto public land?

"The question of the tag will be fascinating,'' said Ted Lundrigan, an attorney in private practice in Pine River. "And once it's dead, what's the value of the head?"

He said a civil court judge would have to weigh other issues, such as whether the deer had become feral after it escaped and whether Keefe could have known the deer was tame.

Given that the deer had only a small yellow ear tag and had wandered far from the Krumwiede farm, Lundrigan said the case favors the hunter.

"If there's a cow on county land, I can't shoot it because there is no cow season. But with a deer, that's different - there is a deer season,'' he said. "If I raise deer in country where there is a deer season, (escapes) are a risk that I would have to take.''

Keefe said he speaks for all deer hunters when he says, "When you see a rack like that, the last thing you're going to do is try to identify its livestock number. What are we suppose to do? Look for ID tags on every deer before we shoot?"

There are about 10,000 domestic elk and 7,000 domestic white-tailed deer held in captivity in Minnesota, said Dr. Paul Anderson, assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, and the number of animals reported escaped each year is low.

"They are rare, maybe 10 a year,'' Anderson said.

He said the Krumwiedes are a small producer, with only four deer. But captive white-tailed deer bucks have become a valuable commodity in Minnesota, with more than 400 farms in operation. The animals are sold for breeding and to shooting preserves.

On its Web site, the Minnesota Deer Breeders Association lists prices of $300 to $500 for whitetail bucks and fawns; other Web sites indicate private shooting preserves charge hunters $8,000 and up to kill a trophy-sized deer.

Deer and elk shooting preserves are controversial in Minnesota, with the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association opposing them. The group believes the increased transportation of domestic elk and deer will increase the chance of diseases getting into the wild. A recent loophole in Minnesota law has allowed shooting preserves to operate in the state, but some lawmakers want them closed down because they believe fenced preserves go against the ethic of fair chase.

Keefe said his buck didn't act like a tame deer, and he plans to hang it - with ear tag - in his home.

"My question is, why does he want it back?'' he said of Kerry Krumwiede. "For the same reason I want to keep it - to hang on his wall. I'm not giving it up, and I'm fighting for anyone in the future who has this happen to them."

Chris Niskanen can be reached at [email protected] or 651-228-5524.
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MN has suffered a rash of escaped captive deer this year as reported to the MN DNR. The owners have 24 hrs to report escapes or loose their CWD reporting status. Disproves the claim that captive cervids can be fenced from contact and intermingling with the wild herd. Dick


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

Just another reason to outlaw the raising of wild animals for livestock or pets!


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

This is a risk deer and elk rancher's face, most ranchers insure their livestock. I believe the deer hunter should be able to keep possession of it; he sure can not get his tag replaced.


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## apeterson (Aug 3, 2005)

hahaha!! This is only 2 miles from where I hunt... wish it would have steped out in front of me... I feel bad for the people whose deer it was, but dont blame the guy for shooting it... and wanting to keep it also.


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## Irish Mick (May 15, 2006)

Their pet deer? uke:


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

Honestly though...IF it was a REALLY nice buck, wouldn't you just cut that ear tag off and keek quiet about the ear tag??


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

rowdie said:


> Honestly though...IF it was a REALLY nice buck, wouldn't you just cut that ear tag off and keek quiet about the ear tag??


No, because that would be ethically wrong IMO and large deer like this begin the rumor mill and sooner or later the "owners" would have heard about the kill. The hunter put his odds in his favor by immediately reporting it and telling the truth. If he had removed the tag and lied about it, his credibility would be immediately questioned.

IMO, the hunter was in the right and he did the ethical thing by reporting it.


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## holmsvc (Nov 26, 2003)

I think people that have domestic deer should be fined if their deer escape. They are putting the area deer herd in jeopardy by their carelessness. I think that once this deer escaped it was fair game to be shot.


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

its a shame to the owner that his deer escaped and was killed but at least it was killed by a "hunter" and not a predator such as a coyote and wasted! i'm sorry but everyone takes a risk when they invest in a wild animal.
Personal Example: When i was young we had a dog that apparently looked like a fox to the guy that "shot" it! $h!tty situation to have to go through to say the least but these things do happen in life! You just gotta get over it!

Lets say Paris Hilton's dog runs off w/ a million dollar necklace! She calls the police, issues a missing dog's complaint (lol), dog is found dead ran over on road w/ no necklace! Her loss. At least the hunter had the dignity to let the owners know their "pet" was found at his gun's expense even though he did nothing wrong in the first place!! So in my opinon he is entitled to something for being an honest human being! If the owner doesnt want the deer hanging on the hunter's wall, taxidermists make mirror image duplicates. It may not quite be the same but i'm sure he will have the original deer or its dead "clone" on the wall in the near future. I just think the owner has to cut his losses, hand the deer over, and move on like i had to when i lost my dog as a youngster.. $h!t happens and you can either dwell on it or learn from it to make sure you minimize the odds of it happening again!!


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

I don't know who the captain of the ethics police is but, I'm sure its not you tady. I don't believe putting an ear tag ON is ethical!! Neither is raising it as a pet!

Had he cut the ear tag off, and not made a big deal about his big buck, no one would know! How is that unethical. A WILD ANIMAL ESCAPED CAPTIVITY! If were really a pet, it would have come back, or never left. I see nothing wrong with just cutting it off and claiming it!


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## apeterson (Aug 3, 2005)

Rowdie what I think he means is that like there in ND this is a small communitee and it would have gotten out that someone shot this buck.. sure they could spot the rack out of a pic and also the ear would have a hole in it... I would definatly done what he did regarding calling the people...


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

> Had he cut the ear tag off, and not made a big deal about his big buck, no one would know! How is that unethical.


It is unethical in my eyes as well.

_"Let's keep it quiet, hide/burn/throw away the tag and it will be our little secret"_

Sounds too sneaky to me. I would have called the owners as well and told them the buck was harvested.

As far as the previous owners....maybe next time they will think twice about having deer as pets.

I hope they don't take this hunter to court.


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

Too bad but if you are going to have a wild animal as a pet the moral of the story is you better not have a hole in your fence. In my opinion the only tag that matters is the one issued by the DNR for the purpose of hunting. Sounds like the person who thinks he should have the animal back has a screw loose and he wants to blame his problem on someone else. A legal deer shot in a legal manner by a legal hunter, what's the problem?


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

I also believe that when it was in captivity it was a comodity but when it escaped it became a deer again.


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## zogman (Mar 20, 2002)

Well DJR please check to see if the sun will rise tomorrow. :eyeroll: 
I agree with you 100% :lol: :withstupid: :lol:


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## boondocks (Jan 27, 2006)

rowdie said:


> I don't know who the captain of the ethics police is but, I'm sure its not you tady. I don't believe putting an ear tag ON is ethical!! Neither is raising it as a pet!
> 
> Had he cut the ear tag off, and not made a big deal about his big buck, no one would know! How is that unethical. A WILD ANIMAL ESCAPED CAPTIVITY! If were really a pet, it would have come back, or never left. I see nothing wrong with just cutting it off and claiming it!


I honestly don't see why cutting the ear tag off would have been that bad.How is it unethical. By turning it into the authoritys you risk losing the deer, going to court, and the way the court system is these days the guy will probably end up in jail cause he killed someones pet. OK, the last example may be a little steep but it wouldn't suprise me these days. He didn't do anything illegal. Even by cutting the ear tag off he still wouldn't have done anything illegal. Looks to me by cutting the erar tag off all he would have done was save himself a bunch of headache.

As far as the deer hunting community being so small that people would find out. I doubt it. It isn't that small. Especailly in Minnesota. And if they did, big deal. Tell them the circumstances that you took the animal under, tell them it had an ear tag and you cut it off. Then deal with it.

I don't consider myself an unethical person by any means, and I think that I probably would have cut it off. I wouldn't be sneaky about it either if they asked I'd tell them.

I'd cut it off just save myself the headache, not to be sneaky.


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

rowdie said:


> I don't know who the captain of the ethics police is but, I'm sure its not you tady. I don't believe putting an ear tag ON is ethical!! Neither is raising it as a pet!
> 
> Had he cut the ear tag off, and not made a big deal about his big buck, no one would know! How is that unethical. A WILD ANIMAL ESCAPED CAPTIVITY! If were really a pet, it would have come back, or never left. I see nothing wrong with just cutting it off and claiming it!


Rowdie,

As apeterson pointed out, you took my post the wrong way. He made the correct observation. I side with the hunter on this one. I never said the "owner" was ethical in having a pet deer, but just because he does it wouldn't be in the right for the hunter to cut the tag and act like he never knew the tag was there.

Your naive to think that no one would know. This deer sounds large enough to start rumors...think about it. It had to be registered at the local station and more than likely taken to a taxidermist. I've been to registration stations and when a large buck is brought in, a large crowd quickly surrounds it. Sooner or later it would get back to the "owners" that they seen a deer like "theirs" registered. They would search for the hunter and then call the GW and then the GW would ask the hunter if he saw the tag in the ear...then the hunter has to lie or confess and if he lies we know where it snowballs from there.

By being truthful from the beginning, his the odds are in favor for him keeping the buck...and I hope he's allowed to do so. He's done the right things to allow himself to do so.

You're justfying cutting the tag off and not telling anyone because you think raising a deer as a pet is unethical. I agree you with the part of raising the deer as a pet as BS, but I don't feel it allows the hunter to do the unethical thing by acting like he never knew the tag was there...come on!


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## tsodak (Sep 7, 2002)

I have to say that I think you all are missing a huge issue in this thing. This is a perfect example of what happens when property(farmed deer) come into conflict with wild animals. As noted opponent of this type thing Valerius Geist says, the wild critters lose every time. So what if this had been a mule deer in MN, or an elk during ND's elk season? Many things could weigh into the "reasonableness" decision. I know for a fact that I dont want to place a big bet where a judge wil decide.

This along with the disease issues that can simply never be addressed are why the captive cervid industry needs to be reigned in....

Tom


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## usmarine0352 (Nov 26, 2005)

1.) I think the guy did the right/courteous thing by callling.

2.) I think he should give the head back and reimbursed for the mount.

3.) I think you do something and you have to look over your shoulder before you do it, you are doing something wrong.

Think about this:

Would you want your dogs head mounted on some guy's wall?

:sniper:


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

Poor analogy!


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

tsodak: I agree this brings the issue of game farms to the top. This is a great example why game farms are bad for any state.


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

so you would turn in the million dollar diamond necklace you found on the dog you ran over???


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

Not that I agree with this thought, but at one time cows, pigs, chickens were wild also.....


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

DJRooster said:


> I also believe that when it was in captivity it was a comodity but when it escaped it became a deer again.


Write this date down. Me and Rooster actually AGREE on something!

HOLY SHIITE!!!!! I'm gonna have to listen to Rush's entire show tomorrow to make sure my conservative values haven't been compromised!


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

Where I'm from, you don't have to take your buck to have it registered. I never knew such a thing existed. I never said I would lie. People only know what you tell them. Had someone asked, I would not have lied. Since I stongly believe the deer escaped captivity, I'm just removing HIS prison tag. The deer doesn't belong to anyone, (in my eyes), but since I would have killed it, it is now MY buck, and I don't like an ear tag on MY buck. And where I'm from, the LAST question a guy would ever ask is "So, was there an ear tag on that buck you shot?"

I hope ND never gets to the point where your're worried about shooting an escaped game-farm buck! :eyeroll:

PS Mossymo: Were cows, chickens, and pigs ever wild on this continent?? Maybe pigs, but I'm sure the rest were imported. Deer have been wild here for at least 10,000 years! Cows, chickens, and maybe pigs have only been around for a couple hundred.


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

> so you would turn in the million dollar diamond necklace you found on the dog you ran over???


If I had no doubt about who the rightful owner was, I would turn it over to them.

But that is different than a deer. A dog isn't a game species. Once that deer left the farm, it became a game species. Now if that guy would have shot it on their property, crossed the fence, and took the deer, we are talking a different story then.


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## HonkerExpress (Sep 23, 2005)

anyone got a picture of the buck? if its that big, it would be cool to see the picture. I say the guy that shot it should be able to keep it. I mean, if I was rasing pheasants in my back yard and they got out of the fence, I wouldn't expect everyone that shot one to bring it back to me. who knows? I hope the guys gets to keep it.


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

live2hunt,
i see your point about the game species but i just think the dog running out in front of you deserved his death just like the deer escaping the fence in the middle of deer hunting season deserved his. what you do w/ the necklace or the horns is your judgement! you can turn it in or you can keep it to yourself! How either one goes in the court of law i'm not sure, but if you were smart about it and kept it quiet you would probably never have to worry about either. you may live w/ a "midget" skeleton in your closet knowing what you did wasn't wrong just nobody knows the whole story!! 
If i'm the jugde, my gavel "slams" in favor of the deer hunter! ive looked at it from every angle and i dont think i'm being biased, just trying to be a realist.


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## BigDDL (Sep 29, 2004)

When I lived in PA we had a very similar incident occur. A local pet buck escaped a couple of months before deer season. During buck season (buck/doe seasons were separate then) a member of our party shot the buck on the run. We were less than a mile from where the deer escaped, and although the deer had no eartag it was identified by the rack. It was only an OK nine point buck, not a trophy. The game warden was called to see what we should do and he said that the buck was legally taken and that the previous owner had no claim whatsoever. As a courtesy, the hunter who had taken the deer called the owner, apologized even though there was no fault on his part, and offered the rack and hide. The previous owner became just irate, rude, belligerant, insulting, and cursed like I've never heard. He claimed the deer was so tame that it "walked right up" to us. Anyway, the guy who shot the deer still gave him the head/hide. I think he may have have understood the guy's emotions a little better because his own grandson also had a pet buck (an orphan he obtained from the Game Commission). I don't think I would have been as generous with the previous owner, given his attitude.
The real stickler was that because his tag was filled his hunting season was over. It was only the first or second day of a two week buck season. We tried to get another tag for him from the PA game commission who refused. I still think they could have been more considerate considering the circumstances.


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