Twin Bucks Poached in Missouri

The Show Me State has once again demonstrated that it is more than capable of producing trophy bucks. Unfortunately, the latest Missouri big buck didn't exactly make a hunter's dream come true.

That's because a tandem of hooligans, whose names have not been released, allegedly poached the deer at night, out of season, with the use of a flashlight. Tom Leeker, an agent with the Missouri Department of Conservation, interviewed the two men after numerous calls about the giant deer.

Of the two bucks shot that fateful evening, the bigger was a 17-point monster that grossed around 200". They also shot a smaller 140" class, 11-pointer, only adding insult to their boneheaded charade.

According to the Ozark County Times, the two men admitted they first saw a trophy-size buck in a field, spotlighted it, shot it with a .22-250, saw a second buck and later returned to shoot it too. It didn't take long for word to circulate about the two mystery bucks, which the men apparently didn't keep much of a secret.

"You can't imagine how many calls I got about these deer," Leeker said. He confiscated both deer on August 28 and ticketed both men for taking deer out of season and using artificial light. As for long-term penalties, all formal charges are still pending. What do you think — what kind of punishment should the poachers receive?