‘I’m Stupid, Yes.’ Wisconsin Man Busted After Trying to Pass Off 49-Point Game Farm Buck for State Record

A Wisconsin man tried to pull a fast one by passing off the rack of a game farm deer as a fair chase buck—and got his just desserts.According to reporting by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 62-year-old Richard Waters admitted to lying about killing a potential state record nontypical whitetail during the 2024 muzzleloader season following an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Waters posing with "his" buck in the center at the Open Season Deer and Turkey Expo. Image via Wisconsin DNR.

Waters initially made waves in the hunting world in March 2025, when he displayed a 49-point rack at theOpen Season Deer and Turkey Expoin Wisconsin Dells. Waters claimed he killed the buck during muzzleloader season in Marquette County. The nontypical rack was panel-scored by the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club and netted over 306 inches, which would have put it well ahead of the standing state record, a 253-incher.

When Waters went public with the rack, folks in the hunting world cried foul play, saying the buck was almost certainly a game farm deer. Red flags folks pointed outon message boardsand by scorers included similarities between the rack and a game farm buck in velvet with ear tags, bright white antlers, and fully intact tines. The Wisconsin DNR opened an investigation into the buck.

Scoring image via Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club.

DNR wardens called neighboring landowners to Waters’s property and could not find any record of the buck. Additionally, Waters would not provide any photos of the buck before it was mounted, claiming he didn’t take his phone into the field with him. Soon, DNR wardens discovered that the rack belonged to a buck from Yoder White Tails deer farm. The farm sold the rack to an acquaintance of Waters, who then turned around and sold it to Waters for $600 bucks.

Image of the buck on a farm via Wisconsin DNR.

Waters then had the buck mounted—using a cape from a different deer—and hired photographer Rachel Van Den Hout to take photos of him with the rack. He also reportedly asked Van Den Hout to photoshop a photo of the rack onto another deer’s body, but she declined. With this information in hand, DNR wardens got Waters to admit that he hadn’t killed the buck.

“God, I thought you were smarter than this,” said Waters’s wife Brenda, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“I’m stupid, yes,” said Waters.

The rack was confiscated, and Waters was charged for the false registration of a deer by the Green Lake District’s Attorney. He pleaded “no contest” and was fined $544.50 and had his hunting and fishing privileges revoked for one year.

Feature image via Wisconsin DNR.

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