Ohio
Was it a hoax? 4 accused in illegal Ohio hunt of 18-point deer
What end deer hunter Christopher J. Alexander foresaw in November when he reported the buck whose pinups drew raves couldn’t have been this one.
The tale Alexander related at the time hinted at fortune, not ruin. At fame, not infamy. A tangle of facts sometimes intrudes.
The story of the potential Ohio record buck hasn’t reached an end exactly. An indictment is only a charge. That holds true when even 23 charges and a grand jury are involved, as occurred early this month.
A Clinton County court ultimately will adjudicate the matter of guilt.
What Alexander, 28, of Wilmington, is accused of by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office boils down to felony fraud and to misdemeanor hunting violations, some of which are tied to more than a single deer.
But it was a single deer that commanded attention.
Mike Rex, an experienced measurer of antlers, an officer in the Buckeye Big Buck Club, and a longtime and successful hunter of trophy whitetails, took a close look soon after the Nov. 9 kill and declared, “It was the biggest set of antlers I’ve ever held in my hand.”
With only the slightest of reservations, Rex said in December he would support Alexander’s 18-point buck as a state record when in January a panel of measurers officially would put tape to the typical, that is, symmetrical rack.
Neither Rex nor most interested people at the time pondered reasons to doubt Alexander’s story about a surprise late-afternoon encounter with a distant deer carrying epic antlers on property his sister, Kristina Alexander, had only recently acquired.
The deer, Alexander said, seemed to be pursuing a doe when it fortuitously ambled to within about 7 yards of the tree stand and the waiting crossbow.
“I knew he was a giant,” the hunter said. “I didn’t know he might be a record.”
A few weeks after the kill, Alexander confided that he’d already been offered $20,000 for the antlers but was holding out until the official scoring. He said was willing to take the risk because the antlers might fetch $100,000 if determined to be a record.
The possibility that a giant buck could have been roaming the countryside not far from Wilmington unknown or unphotographed did seem unlikely in an age of preseason antler scouting and in-season trail cameras.
That Alexander’s chance deer had drawn attention and interest before its demise seemed unavoidable. And thus was the case.
The big buck generously had showed up for semiregular public viewing at a local cemetery. Its head and antlers mounted on some hunter’s wall wasn’t on the wish list of many who’d come to appreciate the deer’s stately presence among them.
How the Ohio Division of Wildlife was alerted hasn’t been revealed, but an investigation begun in December uncovered evidence that led to the indictments.
According to Attorney General David Yost’s office, Alexander claimed that the deer was shot and killed on the land owned by his sister, where he had written permission to hunt. However, an investigation by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which obtained a warrant for Alexander’s cellphone data, found that deer was illegally hunted on private property 10 miles from his sister’s land.
Alexander staged the deer taking at his sister’s property, according to Yost’s office, with the help of Corey Haunert and his brother, Zachary Haunert, to conceal the poaching. The written permission presented to wildlife officers was likewise falsified.
ODNR’s investigation also found that Corey Haunert aided Alexander in poaching deer on multiple occasions, according to Yost’s office.
Charges against Alexander include three felony counts of theft by deception and one felony count of tampering with evidence. Hunting violations, all misdemeanors, include multiple counts of hunting deer without written permission, taking possession of a deer in violation of a division rule, hunting without a license and hunting deer without a valid permit. Single counts include jacklighting, theft, falsification and sale of wildlife parts.
Corey Haunert, 29, of Hillsboro, was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with evidence and on misdemeanor charges including four counts of aiding a wildlife offender, two counts of hunting without permission and a single count of falsification.
Kristina Alexander, 37, of Blanchester, and Zachary Haunert, 31, of Lebanon, face two misdemeanor counts.
Contributing: Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer
outdoors@dispatch.com
No. 1 seed Tennessee (42-14) won its second game in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Knoxville Regional. The Lady Vols defeated No. 2 seed Ohio State (44-13-1), 4-2, Saturday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Junior right-handed pitcher Karlyn Pickens (22-8) made her second start for the Lady Vols in the Knoxville Regional. She pitched seven innings and recorded ten strikeouts against the Buckeyes. Pickens allowed five hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks, while totaling 105 pitches (75 strikes) against 27 batters.
Against Miami University on Friday, Pickens pitched three innings and recorded six strikeouts. She totaled 48 pitches, including 28 strikes, against 11 batters.
Tennessee’s offense produced nine hits against Ohio State. Gabby Leach, Laura Mealer, Sophia Nugent and Taylor Pannell had one RBI each for the Lady Vols. Kinsey Fiedler hit the Lady Vols’ only double in the contest.
Tennessee leads the all time softball series against Ohio State, 6-0, dating to Feb. 27, 2010.
The Lady Vols await their next opponent in the Knoxville Regional final on Sunday at noon EDT.
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How the SEC’s softball dominance could carry it through to the Women’s College World Series
he Oklahoman’s Jenni Carlson shares the top storylines she’s following through the NCAA softball tournament, starting with the SEC’s biggest strengths.
- Jasmyn Burns hit two home runs for Ohio State in an NCAA tournament victory over North Carolina.
- Megan Frye hit a three-run homer for the Buckeyes.
- OSU will now face Tennessee in a game May 18.
The No. 2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes softball team (44-12-1) beat No. 3 North Carolina May 17th by a final score of 9-6 in the Knoxville Regional of the NCAA tournament.
The Buckeyes, making their 13th NCAA appearance, scored in five of their six turns at bat.
Reagan Milliken got OSU going with a solo home run in the second inning. Hadley Parisien and Jasmyn Burns hit back-to-back homers in the sixth.
Burns had two bombs on the afternoon. Morgan Frye hit a three-run home run over the center field fence with two out in the fifth. Taylor Cruse belted a solo shot. Ohio State’s other run came off a Kaitlyn Farley RBI single.
The offensive explosion was little surprise. The Buckeyes entered the postseason leading the nation in runs scored (473), home runs (137), slugging percentage (.707) and runs per game (8.44).
Ohio State will battle the region’s top seed, Tennessee, in Knoxville on May 18. The game starts at noon.
The Volunteers are coming off a 17-0 over the MAC champion Miami Redhawks.
The winner of the Knoxville Regional will face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional next weekend in a Super Regional.
NOBLE COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) – Fracking operations at a site in Ohio were halted in connection to recent earthquakes.
According to WFMJ, hydraulic fracturing operations at a well pad in Noble County, Ohio were halted due to recent seismic activity in the region.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) spokesperson Karina Cheung confirmed to WFMJ Wednesday that the earthquakes were directly connected to gas and oil operations, namely hydraulic fracturing operations by Energy Acquisition Partners (EAP).
“There has been some recent earthquake activity in Noble County due to oil and gas operations, specifically hydraulic fracturing operations by Energy Acquisition Partners (EAP) operating as Encino Energy. Hydraulic fracturing operations have been halted on the well pad,” Cheung told reporters with WFMJ.
Cheung told the station that some of the quakes in Noble County were strong enough to be felt.
The Ohio Seismic Network is responsible for monitoring earthquake activity across the state. The organization has recorded multiple small quakes in Noble County near Pleasant City, Ohio in the past few weeks, including the following:
- April 29: 2.8 magnitude earthquake detected approximately 2 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 10:09:14 p.m. EDT. (33 felt reports recorded)
- May 2: 2.4 magnitude earthquake detected around 2 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 6:43:30 a.m. EDT. (12 felt reports recorded)
- May 6: 2.3 magnitude earthquake detected approximately 2 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 4:00:45 p.m. EDT. (One felt report recorded)
- May 8: 3.2 magnitude earthquake detected about 2.5 miles southeast of Pleasant City at 11:13:43 p.m. EDT. (33 felt reports recorded)
According to WFMJ, ODNR officials did not say how long the suspension of operations would last.
The station noted that there have been several instances where seismic activity has been linked to oil and gas operations in Ohio, including the following:
- A 2011 quake that was centered on Division Street in Youngstown, Ohio was linked to a brine injection well. The Northstar fluid injection well in Youngstown was closed after multiple earthquakes occurred.
- The State of Ohio shut down an injection well in Wethersfield Township in 2014 due to earthquake activity.
- A temporary moratorium on drill and fracturing was issued after multiple earthquakes occurred in Poland Township.
According to WFMJ, fracking was linked to seismic activity, including earthquakes, in a 2023 study examining data from Eastern Ohio.
Professor Michael Brudzinski, a professor of geology and environmental earth science at Miami University, concluded that earthquakes can be induced by both the injection of fluids during hydraulic fracturing and the subsequent extraction of oil and gas, per the station.
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