Probably some dumb hick pro hunter wannabe. Bet you those heads show up on facebook or in some deer contests down the road. Please post pics of the racks if possible so they may be identified like Bucky's was.

The way to NOT to get caught is do it by yourself, never talk about it, or show the rack to anyone. WHAT DAYUM GOOD IS THAT??
There is more than one involved. They have already proved they aren't very smart. They will talk about it, show the rack, and they WILL be caught. I'm betting before Christmas.

Whoever did it has already talked or told someone. Once the word of the reward gets out the pos that did it will be toast. Hell i dont know what the fines are or charges will be, but the shooter may turn himself in for the $20,000.00 pay his fines and still come out ahead.

I believe if I had been the deer farmer I would have kept this on the down low for a few weeks. Perp's would have likely thought it would be forgotten about and therefore more likely to blab about it and show some pics, etc. They may would have even shown up at a local taxidermist.

Give it a few weeks for them to get brave and talk, and then the farmer should post it on facebook, the local paper, call all of the taxis, etc. The way it stands now, with the news all over the place, they'd probably be scared to death to even be in the same room with the heads, much less to go bragging about them.

IDK, maybe I'm way off, but I caught a thief that way before.

I'm with you on that one, MM.

I don't think $20,000 is going to cover the expenses

They may panic and dump the head and someone find it and get nailed... I doubt that happens but, it would suck

Just guessing, but I know of a couple brothers that would have done this back in the day. Older brother could say frog and younger brother would jump. Hope we get an answer soon.

Lots of discussion here so I will share what little insight/opinion I can since some ask. I own a breeder operation we primarily raise stocker bucks for a large high fence operation I think it’s 1800 acres in one continuous tract maybe divided with a single cross fence. I think most hunting operations now have game breeders license as they generally still have to move deer and have their own breeder operations in most cases. I believe Ricky has both and also sales some stockers. There are a lot of rules and regulations regarding both, one of the major rubs with this is that in Alabama any deer over 1 year of age that dies on a breeders farm must have the head sent in for necropsy at the farmers expense so at the very least that’s an issue since these were killed and the heads taken. As for value I can’t tell you what those two bucks were worth but I can tell you Ricky has some of the largest deer in the state, and best genetics around so they were worth a lot. Not to mention I suspect these were some of the bucks he was breeding with this year but I don’t know that for sure it’s just a guess which means he has to figure out what to use for backups. Either way it was a huge loss, both financially and emotionally as his wife and he both work with their deer daily. Generally, we do not mess with our bucks as much but they are tamer than the does anyways. They are like people some will be more shy than others however if they are bottle fed then they will definitely be more tame. We have doe any daughters can literally hug and pet like dogs and others that you won’t get more than 50 yards from. As for pen size my breeder pens are 150ftx320ft Which is pretty average for breeder pens.

As for value I can’t tell you what those two bucks were worth but I can tell you Ricky has some of the largest deer in the state, and best genetics around so they were worth a lot

ok, lets do market math: 300lb buck (this is BIG) 10 point head mounted cost from amazon...$700 (this is high end) lets round it to $1k

Head weighs 60lbs, remaining carcass 240 lbs. the average meat yield from a deer carcass is 35%. that leaves us with 84 lbs of good meat.

average price of deer meat on the market is about $10 per lb ground and $13 for prime cuts (this ridiculous since deer meat tastes like dried corn shucks) so that means an average price of $11.50 per pound times 84. equals $954 + $1000 (mounted head) the entire deer is worth less than $2000.

really?

I dropped $2000 at the wetumpka casino last month, why is everyone freaking out? you're making out like the guys lost his last penny...he lost $4000 tops, maybe more for the fence....jesus H Christ...it aint that much

They sell semen for more than that on good bucks 🤣

The deer are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. That's a simple axiom of business. And apparently some people will pay a ton for a deer with very large antlers.

well, they sell a Patek Philippe watch for half million dollars too....just because it costs a lot doesn't mean its good....

Just saying...your off on thinking he lost less than 4k tho

amazon

OK, fine. help me out...show the $$ lost because a big buck is worth roughly $2k. if he lost more than $2k per buck plus fence repairs where did the loss occur?

I would imagine if he sold the deer he would get $6-10,000 each so $4k is way low.

If these were his stud stock, there's no telling how much money he expected to make over the life of the animals.

you don't know what in hell yer talking about,

No clue at all