After he killed what may have been one of the largest whitetail deer of all time last fall, Ohio resident Christopher “CJ” Alexander has been indicted on 23 charges as a result of an Ohio DNR investigation, the agency confirmed with Outdoor Life.
The news is the latest installment in the CJ Alexander saga, which began in November when Alexander killed the giant deer, then gave interviews with hunting publications, including OL, about how he allegedly took the 18-point buck while hunting with a crossbow on his sister’s 30-acre property in Ohio. This version of the story was thrown into question in December when the Ohio DNR seized the buck and opened a poaching investigation.
“Wildlife officers discovered through warranted searches of cellphone data that Christopher Alexander had illegally hunted the trophy buck on private property about 10 miles from his sister’s land, and later learned that the written permission from his sister he had presented to wildlife officers had been falsified — after the deer was killed — to mislead authorities,” reads a press release from the Ohio attorney general’s office, which details the indictment that was handed down by a Clinton County grand jury Friday. “Evidence revealed Christopher Alexander staged the deer taking at his sister’s property with the help of Corey P. Haunert and his brother, Zachary R. Haunert, to conceal the poaching.”
Over the course of the DNR’s five-month investigation, Alexander has repeatedly said that he’s been wrongfully accused, doubling down on his claims that he took the buck legally on his sister’s property. Before it was seized by authorities the buck was scored by the Ohio’s Buckeye Big Buck Club, which uses the Boone and Crockett scoring system, and given a green score of 206 7/8 inches typical, along with a gross nontypical score of 235 7/8. With that preliminary score, the buck would have the potential to become the No. 1 typical whitetail taken in the state of Ohio, and the No. 3 typical whitetail taken in North America.
After investigators seized the buck’s antlers, a crossbow, crossbow bolts, and tree stand, Alexander appears to have been served a summons on Feb. 5, according to a screenshot of the Clinton County municipal court’s then-current timeline of legal proceedings. Alexander posted the image himself to his Instagram account, along with the following message:
“Asking me to forfeit MY property instead of charging me criminally btw the answer of the defendant was FUCK OFF”
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Author: Paul Bedard
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