Goliath, record setting whitetail buck, dies

[Skinny Shooter]

http://www2.theclarionnews.com/General_News/35928.shtml

Goliath, the record setting whitetail deer owned by Rod and Diane Miller of Knox, died two weeks ago. The deer is at the center of both a criminal investigation and a civil lawsuit. Both of those cases will proceed. Goliath’s rack held an official Boone and Crockett score of 410.

KNOX - Goliath, the largest racked whitetail deer ever bred in captivity, died on Dec. 6 on the farm of Rod and Diane Miller. Although his death was likely due to natural causes, a necropsy is being done at Penn State University to determine the exact cause.

A necropsy is an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death.

For the Millers, the death of Goliath is an “incalculable loss” but not the end of his impact on their lives.

“When Goliath was stolen from us,” Diane Miller said, “the worst part was not knowing where he was or whether he was dead or alive.”

Then, in a voice faltering with emotion, she added, “this is so much worse.”

According to Diane Miller, the death of their world-renowned whitetail buck will not change the legal actions being taken against the person alleged to have been involved in the theft of the deer.

On Oct. 13, a preliminary hearing was held in the Jefferson County courtroom of District Justice Richard Beck to review charges against Jeffrey Dean Spence of RD1 Reynoldsville, owner of White Oak Whitetail Deer Farm, for his role in the theft of Goliath on Oct. 20, 1999 .

Beck ruled there were sufficient grounds to try Spence for theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. Pending the results of a plea bargain session, a court date will be set in the spring of 2005.

In addition to criminal charges, the Millers have also initiated a civil suit against Spence. Action on the civil case against Spence will not begin until the criminal charges are settled.

Goliath was taken from the Millers when he was 2 years old.

At the time, he was the largest racked deer of that age ever recorded, scoring 230 Boone and Crockett points.

Four years later, he was discovered by four members of the Pennsylvania Deer Farmers Association on the White Oaks Whitetails Deer farm near the town of Hazen in Jefferson County .

Upon learning the location of Goliath, the Millers obtained a court order for Goliath’s return.

On July 30, 2003 , the day after the PDFA members found him, he was brought back to the Millers’ farm.

Spence alleged at the time to have purchased Goliath legitimately and that he was not aware the deer he was calling Hercules was the missing Goliath. Spence consequently obtained a court order to have a DNA test run to prove ownership.

In front of four state police witnesses, attorneys for both Spence and the Millers and two veterinarians, DNA samples were taken from Goliath on Aug. 17, 2003 . On September 9, 2003 , DNA Solutions of Oklahoma confirmed it was Goliath.

Shortly after Goliath was returned to the Millers, they had him anesthetized to take semen for artificial insemination. In the twenty minutes he was under the anesthetic, a Boone and Crocket scorer measured the rack.

Goliath’s rough score as a 6-year-old was 345, making him the largest whitetail ever recorded. At the time of this scoring, he had 52 countable points. Four others were broken and not counted.

After Goliath shed that rack, the antlers were sent to Odie Sudbeck for a final measurement. It took Sudbeck, one of Boone and Crockett’s top scorers, three days to tally the results and when the Kansas native was done, Goliath’s rack held an official score of 410.

After Goliath was returned to the Millers in July of 2003, reputable members of the Pennsylvania Deer Farmers Association assed his value at $1 million. But he was much more than a million dollar deer to the Millers.

“He’s part of our family,” Rod Miller said at the time, “we’re not going to lose him again.

Sadly, they have.

Petey, I should have tried to see that guy while I was up there the last time.

[petey]

Yup,

He only lived about 4 miles from my house. I saw him last year when he had the MEGA rack of like 62 points. This year he didn't have as many, but I believe Rod was having 10 replicas made of last year's rack. I wonder what those will sell for? When I first saw him and was walking up to him he snort wheezed and just the size of the animal made the hair on your back stand up. He truely was amazing and I'm glad I can say I saw the largest whitetail ever alive not more than 5 feet away.

The odd thing was that I talked to Diane on Thrusday, 2 days before Goliath died. We were talking about some websites and promotional stuff......Very sad around these parts right now.

[cyclops]

Its sad when something of that magnitude goes by the wayside.
Non hunters will never get it, but to us, its akin to Niagra Falls drying up or the Pyramids falling to the ground. On the other hand, The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. We all knew, 5 yeras ago, we would out live this majestic creature. Sorta like loosin' a favorite dog.
I hope it wasn't in vain and we, as a brotherhood of outdoorsmen and hunters, learned from this wonderful creature.

Cy

[petey]

It's hard to imagine a whitetail rack scoring more than that of the worlds biggest elk, but if you saw him you would have believed it.

The Miller's are some of the nicest people I know and I really feel for Rod and Diane. One of my good friends who is a member here grew up with their daughter and I've helped him bring buckets of apples over to feed the deer. I can tell you his offspring are pretty impressive too, but I doubt you'll ever see a buck that reaches the 400" mark again. Simply amazing...and to think he was right down the road

[Jabba]

Originally posted by petey
I doubt you'll ever see a buck that reaches the 400" mark again.

That's what they thought before him too.

There will be another...

Just like they never thought the 61 home run record would be broken.

Just like they thought Marino's 48 TD record...

Records will fall again, and again.

RIP Goliath

Jabba

[Classicvette63]

Jabba, agree with you on everything except the 61 homeruns. Roger Maris still holds the record in my eyes. Cheaters recieve no acknowledgement from me, that includes both mcgwire and bonds.

Petey, was this deer just a pet or was it used for breeding etc by it's rightful owners?

[Jabba]

Originally posted by Classicvette63
Jabba, agree with you on everything except the 61 homeruns. Roger Maris still holds the record in my eyes. Cheaters recieve no acknowledgement from me, that includes both mcgwire and bonds.

Was Mcgwire cheating? Hmmm. Dunno fer sure. Sure seems like Barry Bonds has been.

I wonder what they took in Roger Maris's day? Something I'll bet. Caffeine? Cocain even maybe. There is also talk about them "juicing" the ball now too. Making it more lively. Although pitching was not near as strong in those days.

What did the Goliath people feed to him to get him that big? I'll bet some people think it's cheating.

My point to all that...? None really. There is always differences... these things are never even. They say that there will never be another NBA player as dominant as Wilt Chamberlian. That might be true... but he'd not be special in today's league. Not at all. The level of the other players has risen DRAMATICALLY.

Jabba

[petey]

Classic,

He was used for breeding. I think one little shot of his magic juice was worth over $30K.

There's HUGE money in the deer breeding, and "canned" hunting industry, obvouisly. I always said if I had a few hundred acres and the money behind it, I'd fence it in and charge those big wig city hunters 3 grand and pop to go out and shoot the tame deer. Even though I'd never partake in such a hunt there's a lot of "easy" money to be made in that industry. I have several friends who own such places and it's amazing to see the money the bring in from places like these TV shows (our heros on TV), Baseball players, football players, Big Executives that want a head mount on their office wall so they can say they are a hunter, etc....

If you guys actually knew what I know about most of these TV shows you'd probably never want to watch them again

[gd357]

Petey,

It's not too hard to figure out. Watching a few hunting videos, the thought that one group of people could video as many mature bucks in one season as they do certainly makes you wonder how many of these deer are actually wild (probably none of them). I doubt very many "hunts" that make it to TV or video are fair chase (regardless of what the package says) considering the abundance of large deer taken each year by these "hunters".

gd357

[Jabba]

I think the exception to that is the DIY (Do it yourself) hunter.

That guy hunts all public land. Mostly alone. He takes his daughter along alot.

Pretty cool from what I have seen, and some episodes he does not get to harvest an animal.

Jabba

[cyclops]

Oh, believe me. I look at all of the hunting shows with one squinted eye. I fancy myself an above average hunter. (not great, but better than your average guy) and I can tell you, if that was an indication of what REAL hunting was, I would need a wearhouse to house my trophys. I am sure this holds true with the majority of the room. True?
I can tell that there are a fair ammount of "real life" hunts and I don't think that they are in the higher -end production ones nor the low-end. I think the middle-of-the-road shows tend to be a little more realistic.

I, as a hunter, don't condemn that type of hunting, nor do I condone it. Its a fringe-few that do hunt like that and thats what the antis view us all as. I wont take sides on any hunt related issues (crossbows, baiting, hounds,etc.) other than to say what I , myself would or would not do.


Cy

[Ridge Runner]

Pen raised in ohio, scored in the 370's at 4.5 yo, the farmer also has a brother to this buck who at 2.5 yo scored 218
RR

[Ridge Runner]

oops

[petey]

Now if you want him in your livingroom, you can just pay for a replica of him! Just found out one of his replicas was on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

[Buckblood]

How could goliath hold an official B&C score of 410 when B&C dosen't accept pen deer. I don't like pen deer at all. They always seem to be where CWD starts spreading.