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Record buck taken by convicted felon --
This is a 33 point buck shot near Mingo which is East of Des Moines on the Skunk River North of I-80. This guy was bragging about the deer so, the DNR got involved. Turns out he is a convicted felon and shot the deer with a shotgun. Felons can't have shotguns, The DNR took the gun, the deer and arrested the guy. It is said to be the largest rack in the US. Even larger than the Albia buck.
March 1, 2007
Huge Buck Taken with Broken Antler Through Nose --
Milt Burris sent us this photo of a huge buck taken over an Oak Haven plot. The buck apparently had been in a fight where the other buck's antler penetrated through one side of the nasal cavity, broke through to the other side, and then broke off entirely leaving him with a strange piercing!
SHERIFF DESTROYS WRONG CROP
Plants were cannabinus, not cannabis
News for Public Officials
August 08, 2006
In 2003, Marion Waltman was watching a television news report showing Harrison County Mississippi Deputies raid what appeared to be a large crop of marijuana. He recognized the property as land that he leased to The Boarhog Hunting Club. Waltman was first puzzled, then outraged as he watched Sheriff George Payne and his crew destroy his $225,000 crop. The crop the deputies were cutting down wasn't marijuana but Kenaf (hibiscus cannabinus), that Waltman had planted as fodder for deer.
Since the 1960's, there has been increasing interest in Kenaf as an annually renewable source of fiber for the manufacture of newsprint and other pulp and paper products in the United States and other countries. Over the past five years, ranchers have begun using Kenaf as a forage crop.
The leaf shape of varieties of Kenaf varies but some varieties closely resemble marijuana (cannabis sativa).
Court records show an informant reported the crop as marijuana to state narcotics agents and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers.
Although field tests on a sample plant did not identify it as marijuana. Payne ordered the plants seized and sent samples to the state Crime Lab.
Waltman sought $225,000 in damages in a lawsuit claiming the sheriff violated his rights by destroying more than 500 Kenaf plants.
U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. dismissed the suit in May 2005.Guirola determined that Payne was acting within his official capacity and within the scope of discretionary authority. Qualified immunity shielded Payne from liability because his conduct was "objectively reasonable," the judge said. Waltman has appealed Guirola’s ruling. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a request for oral arguments, set for the week of Nov. 6 in New Orleans.