Last November, a poacher made headlines when he shot a near-record whitetail in Ohio and lied about the circumstances in order gain publicity. According to recent court filings, CJ Alexander posted photos of the giant 18-point buck to social media, shopped the photos and his false story around to media outlets, and even profited from the sale of its antlers before Ohio game wardens seized the deer and charged him 23 criminal counts related to its illegal take. After feigning innocence for nearly a year, Alexander has now pled guilty to charges that include spotlighting, tampering with evidence, hunting without a permit, and trespassing.
According to court documents obtained by Field & Stream, Alexander pursued the large buck—which he called "Megatron"—for weeks while trespassing on private property. He finally killed it on November 9, 2023 with a crossbow owned by one of his accomplices. The documents reveal a string of text messages that Alexander sent to friends and family in the run up to killing the deer in which he admitted to trespassing and spoke of his plan to earn money from the deer's antlers.
An Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODW) press release lists three accomplices connected to the case. One of Alexander's accomplices, Corey P. Haunert, 29, of Hillsboro,Ohio, pleaded guilty to counts that include hunting without permission, tampering with evidence, and aiding a wildlife offender. The other accomplices—Zachary R. Haunert and Kristina M. Alexander—were also cited for aiding a wildlife offender.
Investigators used text messages between Corey Haunert and Alexander to build their case. The documents show that the men placed tree stands and trail cameras on property they didn't have permission to hunt near Wilmington, Ohio, and even baited the property in an attempt to keep the 18-point buck in the area after they captured trail camera photos of it.
The day after Alexander poached the deer with a crossbow owned by Corey Haunert, the men removed it from the property and staged photos on land owned by Alexander's sister, more than 10 miles away. Alexander used the staged photos when telling a false story about killing the deer on his sister's 9-acre parcel.
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Alexander is scheduled to appear in Clinton County Court on December 11. His penalties could includes $13,750 in fines, community control, and a five-year hunting license suspension, ODW says. Because Ohio law tallies up restitution dollars based on the size of a buck's rack, Alexander is on the hook for more than $35,000 in restitution charges alone.
