Hunter charged with illegally bagging trophy buck

An Iowa sportsman who earned national attention for a trophy whitetail deer he shot on a rural Marion County farm is fighting accusations that he illegally used bait.

An Iowa Department of Natural Resources conservation officer this month charged Clive estate planner Joe Franz with four counts of "hunting over bait," a violation of an Iowa law that prohibits hunters from using grain, vegetables, fruit or salt blocks to attract wildlife.

If convicted, Franz could face a $195 fine on each charge.

The charges cover violations on four days in October 2014 when Franz, 55, was hunting "Palmer," a deer believed to be the biggest whitetail buck ever bagged on video. Franz finally killed the deer on an Oct. 12, 2014, afternoon hunt during Iowa's early muzzleloader season.

The lifetime hunter contends that his pursuit of Palmer was done legally, and he believes the charges stemmed from someone's jealousy over him taking the buck — not an uncommon reaction in trophy hunting circles after a big deer is harvested, he said in an interview at his lawyers' West Des Moines office.

"I'm outraged by the charges brought against me," he said. "There's always jealousy, there's always accusations, innuendo and I am completely innocent of these charges."

Franz, his lawyers, a DNR spokesperson and Marion County Attorney Ed Bull all said they could not talk about details of the charges ahead of a trial. The publicly available complaints filed in court against Franz have no details, such as what bait he's accused of using.

However, a motion to suppress evidence filed by defense attorneys William Kutmus and Trever Hook claim that Department of Natural Resources officers took soil samples from Franz's farm without probable cause or a search warrant. Soil sampling is commonly done when an officer suspects a hunter of using salt or a mineral deposit to attract deer.

"There will probably be a day in court where both of us will be able to present our side of the story and our evidence," DNR spokesperson Kevin Baskins said.

Kutmus said Franz voluntarily turned over the taxidermied mount of Palmer to the state while the criminal case is pending, though he expects it to be returned if he's acquitted.

Franz's account of his months-long pursuit of Palmer was featured in a spring issue of North American Whitetail magazine, and The Des Moines Register published a story on the hunt. Someone made a complaint to authorities that the deer had been harvested illegally shortly after the Register article was published, Franz said.

On the advice of his attorneys, he would not talk about the complaint or the accuser.

But Franz and his attorneys believe Iowa's law on "hunting over bait" is unconstitutionally vague.

For instance, the law contains no wording about actual distances a hunter must be from anything that could be considered bait, Kutmus said. That leaves each individual conservation officer with "tremendous discretion" over whether to bring charges, he said.

"These charges amount to a black eye for the state of Iowa," he said.

There's also no wording about time periods in the law, said defense lawyer Trever Hook. Because minerals seep into the ground, a hunter could face prosecution for pursuing deer in a tract of land where a previous landowner placed a salt block that's no longer visible, he said.

Both attorneys said the case has prompted calls to state legislators about potentially making Iowa's law on baiting animals more specific.

Baskins responded, "That's what the courts are for," when asked by a reporter about the defense lawyers' claims.

Franz's bagging of the deer came after years of him buying and selling land in pursuit of the perfect farm to produce a big whitetail buck.

He bought the 80-acre Marion County farm in June of last year, and was shown photos by the listing agent of a big deer shed found on the property earlier in the spring. His first encounters with Palmer came from trail camera photos captured in mid-August, he wrote in North American Whitetail.

Palmer's non-typical gross score by the Boone & Crockett Club was 261 7/8.

Though it did not break any Iowa records, the magazine deemed it to be the largest buck ever harvested on video.

Franz said he went to "great lengths to ensure the integrity of the hunt." He chose to film it to dispel any allegations that he took the deer illegally or unethically, he said.

The video is available on franzbuck.com, a website he created.

"Integrity is a foremost part of what I do every day," he said.