It seems like greed is everywhere. Or maybe it’s the need for fame. Whatever it might be, it seems that some hunters will go to any level to get in the spotlight.
That’s exactly what Nick Davis from North Carolina did as he attempted to fool official scorers into believing he had shot a new state record non-typical whitetail. The North Carolina Sportsman has the full story.
Joey Thompson, an official scorer for the N.C. Bowhunters Association, said on Sunday night that the antlers from an apparent state-record whitetail deer that he scored for a Surry County hunter last week came from Pennsylvania.
Thompson posted on his Facebook page on Sunday night that a non-typical buck that he measured at 208 inches net non-typical – more than 30 inches larger than the existing state-record archery kill – taken by Nick Davis, an Elkin hunter, were actually a set of antlers from Pennsylvania that had been screwed into the skull plate of a small buck killed in North Carolina.
“I regret to inform you of the deer I took pride in measuring on Thursday night, as it was not a NC deer,” Thompson said. “I am very upset over this as I felt it was legitimate and legal. I am very thankful the NCWRC for the hard work and protecting the deer we hunt.”
Thompson told North Carolina Sportsman late Sunday night that enforcement officers with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission told him they visited Davis earlier in the day and learned that the antlers came from Pennsylvania.
“Wardens (allegedly) had him confess. Antlers were from Pennsylvania,” Thompson said. “(They) went to his house; they were getting overwhelmed with calls and had to check it out.”
Efforts to reach enforcement officers with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission late Sunday night were unsuccessful.
Thompson said he was told that the 27-point non-typical buck David claimed he killed with a bow last Wednesday afternoon was actually a 3-point buck taken locally with a rifle.
“He took the Pennsylvania antlers and screwed them into the skull plate and covered (it) with deer hide,” said Thompson, who was so upset that he was not going to score deer “for a while.”
Davis contacted North Carolina Sportsman last Thursday by email, asking if the magazine was interested in a possible state-record buck. Davis was interviewed later that day, and a story about the buck and photos were posted late Thursday night after Thompson finished a preliminary or “green” score of the deer.
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