RED WING, MINN. - The 32- year-old Cannon Falls man charged with poaching a world-record white-tailed buck on Halloween in Goodhue County pleaded not guilty Thursday to 16 charges, including three filed on Wednesday.
Troy Alan Reinke also asked Goodhue County District Judge Thomas Bibus to allow testing of the hunting clothes he wore that October evening for gunpowder residue. Bibus granted the request.
"It seems to me whether there is gunpowder residue on his hunting clothing is very important," Reinke's attorney, public defender Tim Dillon of Cannon Falls, said before Reinke appeared in court.
Reinke, who declined comment, says he found the 8-point buck already dead, according to Department of Natural Resources conservation officers.
Originally, Reinke said he shot the animal with a bow, according to a complaint filed in Goodhue County. He changed his story after investigators determined the deer -- which would have been the highest-scoring 8-point buck in the world, had it been killed legally -- was killed by a firearm.
Included among charges against Reinke added Wednesday by assistant Goodhue County Attorney David Grove were two counts of unlawfully possessing a wild animal. Grove said he offered a plea agreement to Reinke, but it was rejected. Dillon said his client maintained his innocence, and Grove declined to give specifics of the proposed deal.
After the hearing, Grove dismissed the relevance of having Reinke's hunting clothes tested. "We have no idea what coat he was wearing that night," Grove said. "And he could have washed his coat since then."
Grove acknowledged investigators can't prove Reinke shot the buck with a bow or a gun. "But it doesn't matter whether he shot the deer or not. He had the deer and wasn't supposed to have it."
The firearms deer season was closed when the deer was killed. The buck reportedly field-dressed at 265 pounds.
Reinke is on probation for domestic assault, and has earlier convictions for marijuana possession, theft and assault. If convicted in the deer case, he would be in violation of his parole and could be sentenced to up to two years in jail and fined $1,000 or more, Grove said. His parole conditions require him to be law-abiding and not possess firearms.
According to the complaint, Reinke killed a smaller buck and a doe with his bow before killing, or finding, the larger buck. He was licensed to kill only one deer, and because Reinke didn't tag any of the animals, the DNR contends all three were poached.
The case has received widespread attention among hunters because of the buck's size. A preliminary scoring measured its antlers at about 190 gross and 185 net, unheard of for an 8-pointer.
Reinke will next appear in court March 18.
Dennis Anderson • 612-673-4424
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