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Trophy buck, known by local hunters as ‘King Louie,’ taken illegally in New York

Jerrod Vila
December 13, 2024


Fonda, N.Y. — A buck of legendary clout, known to hunters within the Fonda/Johnstown locale in Fulton and Montgomery counties in New York as “King Louie,” was killed illegally during the wee hours of the morning of Dec. 5.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported that their law enforcement officers charged Christopher Brownell, of Fultonville, with two misdemeanors and two violations after he confessed to taking the deer at night while hunting from the road and while trespassing.

King Louie was no ordinary buck. He carried a massive, palmate and recognizable set of antlers. During the 2020 deer season he began to show his true potential, as at 4.5 years of age, he was considered a giant by local hunters. By 2023, he was considered a world-class deer and by the time he was 8.5 years of age, he was legendary.


Local hunters tried, and failed, to affix their tag to King Louie over the years, but the buck somehow evaded them. Then, according to the NYDEC, on Dec. 5 Brownell was driving down Old Johnstown Road in Johnstown and happened to see the buck feasting on pumpkins off the side of the road.

A shot from the road, in the middle of the night with a .308 caliber rifle effectively ended a legacy; along with a law-abiding hunter’s chances at being recognized for harvesting the potentially largest buck ever taken in the state of New York.

Local hunters were saddened to hear they’d lost their chance at harvesting him legally.

“I spent every minute I could trying to ethically harvest King Louie,” Ronald Hart Jr., caretaker of the property the giant buck was taken from, said. “Whether it was bow season and he was just out of range, or gun season with him running after a hot doe and not having a good shot, Louie always gave me hope.”

ECOs Get Involved
The DEC said calls began to permeate DEC’s central dispatch within the early hours of the morning after Brownell paraded the buck around town on the back of his flat-bed truck.

ECOs Justanna Bohling and Kyle Bevis were dispatched to the area and after making initial contact with Brownell, he claimed he shot the buck on a different property at 4:30 in the afternoon, the day prior. However, photo and video evidence showed no rigor setting in, and the buck to be still relatively warm at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The buck had also not been field dressed. The ECOs felt there were lots of questions about the hunt and holes in Brownell’s story as the timeline of the events were not matching up.

ECOs Bohling and Bevis met up with Fulton County ECOs Shane Manns and Paul Pasciak to discuss in further detail the logistics of Brownell’s story. Through a variety of outlets and interviews the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

ECOs Bohling and Bevis determined the shot that fell King Louie should have dispatched him relatively quickly. They asked Brownell to bring them to the kill site where he said he’d shot the buck on a different property and it ran into the pumpkin patch and died.

But the blood trail told a different tale.

Upon finding a patch of hair within the pumpkin patch, which is synonymous with an impact site, the ECOs proceeded to press Brownell, who has had prior run-ins with ECOs in Schoharie County in prior years, harder.

“I looked right at him and said you shot him right here, right here in the pumpkin patch, from the road, didn’t you?” ECO Bohling said. Brownell warily looked around, then down at the ground, and confessed, “Yeah, I did.”

DEC said Brownell eventually confessed the entire story to the officers.

The Charges
Brownell was brought up on four different charges: taking an illegal deer (misdemeanor), hunting outside of legal hours (violation), ECL trespass (violation), and shooting on/from a roadway (misdemeanor).

Taking an illegal deer carries a maximum fine of $2,000; shooting on or from a roadway carries a maximum fine of $1,000; ECL trespass carries a maximum fine of $250; and hunting outside of legal hours carries a maximum fine of $250.

In New York, Brownell is looking at maximum fines of $3,500 plus additional court surcharges. Many states look at poaching as a larceny, the larger and more trophy caliber the poaching is, the stiffer the fines and repercussions.

Last year the CJ Alexander case out of Ohio made national news and dealt with a similar caliber buck. Initially, Alexander was brought up on 23 different charges, and fines tallying nearly $30,000. He pleaded guilty to 14 of those charges, lost his hunting privileges for five years and was ordered to pay over $13,000 in fines and over $35,000 in restitution given the record book size of the buck.

King Louie has been caped out in preparation to be mounted for DEC as one of the largest bucks ever. The antlers have not yet been officially scored. The meat was donated to the venison donation program “Hunters Feeding the Hungry.”

“Honestly, pictures don’t do it justice,” ECO Bohling said “That rack was huge.”

quote:

ECOs Get Involved
The DEC said calls began to permeate DEC’s central dispatch within the early hours of the morning after Brownell paraded the buck around town on the back of his flat-bed truck.

Not the smartest poacher

What a dipshit slob of a hunter. Those penalties are way too light.

A deer of that caliber, in the wild, has a value in the several thousand dollars.
Why not charge poachers with felony theft??

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
A deer of that caliber, in the wild, has a value in the several thousand dollars.
Why not charge poachers with felony theft??

Perry

I disagree it has the value that one has to pay for the states lic.

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
A deer of that caliber, in the wild, has a value in the several thousand dollars.
Why not charge poachers with felony theft??

Perry

Utah feels the same. I believe, unless the law has changed, poaching a cow elk and other big game is considered a felony here as they substantially increased their value.

Although it will not prevent poaching entirely, it does likely make people think twice….