Joe Franz
A judge has ruled the man who took a trophy whitetail deer in rural Marion County did not break the law.
Joe Franz of Clive shot the buck from a blind on October 12th of 2014, and it is believed to be the biggest trophy deer confirmed taken in Iowa by video.
The DNR said Franz used salt licks put on the rural Marion County property by the previous owner to lure in the big buck nicknamed Palmer, and then shot it with a muzzleloader. The video of the shooting however didn’t convince Judge Thomas Mott, who says the deer never came closer than one dozen yards of the mineral lick, and there was no evidence the deer was interested in it.
Franz’s hunter equipment and trophy antlers were seized after he was charged and the DNR says it will return them following the verdict.