For more than five years, a majestic white-tailed deer roamed the countryside northwest of Albany, New York in the United States. His stature and very particular antlers – evoking two open hands with outstretched fingers – had earned him a nickname: King Louie. According to the New York Times, hunters in the region tracked it with fascination, some dreaming of seeing it approved as a New York State record. But King Louie seemed elusive. Until this day in December 2024 when a photo of his inert body made the rounds on social networks, triggering consternation and suspicion throughout the community.
On December 5, in the early morning, a resident surprised his neighbor, Christopher Brownell, bringing in a huge deer in the back of his pickup truck. It didn’t take long for the image of the trophy to circulate on Snapchat. Excitement quickly gives way to doubt: was King Louie killed according to the rules of hunting? The time at which he was allegedly shot does not add up, as the state prohibits hunting after dark. And above all, the animal was known to be found mainly on private properties, where hunting amounts to poaching.
Alerted, environmental protection officers delved into the matter. Surveillance videos, testimonies from hunters and examination of the animal’s body sow confusion. Brownell’s story, according to which he wounded the deer at the end of the day then found the body the next day, seems less and less credible: inconsistencies at the location of the shooting, condition of the body incompatible with the declared time… nothing goes and the investigators grill the hunter, who ends up confessing.
Admission to illegal shooting
Under pressure, Brownell ended up admitting to having shot the deer in the middle of the night, by the light of the moon, from a road that ran alongside a pumpkin patch. He also admits to having heard cars passing after his shot and to having returned, leaving the animal there, to return to collect it at dawn. This admission seals the outcome of the investigation: King Louie did indeed fall under illegal gunfire, outside hunting hours, in a prohibited area.
The culprit, aged 40, was therefore prosecuted for illegal hunting, use of a weapon from a public highway, failure to comply with legal hours and trespassing on private land. After pleading guilty, he was fined $3,000 (around 2,500 euros) and had his hunting license suspended for five years. A sanction which does not erase the feeling of betrayal of local hunters, not because the animal is dead, but because they would have wanted to kill it themselves.
Once the case was solved, King Louie’s body was given to a laboratory, his meat donated to charity and his head stuffed. Although its spectacular antlers ultimately did not reach the level of an official record – impossible to obtain in any case for a poached animal – the affair marked the region. In the surrounding villages, the death of the king of the forests has resurrected the debate on the ethics of hunting and the importance of respecting the rules. King Louie will remain an Adirondack legend for a long time.
