PERRY, MI — A massive 14-point deer took top honors at the Mid Michigan Buck Pole on Thursday, but it’s also caused a feud between two hunters who each say they brought the big beast down.
Ron Gruesbeck, 62, of Perry, won his local buck pole with the trophy deer, which he says he took down with a kill shot to the lungs in the woods on his property along Colby Road. But Cody Knauff says otherwise.
Knauff, 20, of Leslie, said his father, Tyrone, was the one who put the bullet through the buck’s lung. He said his dad and 15-year-old sister were on their property adjacent to Gruesbeck’s Thursday on opening day when his dad took the shot some 85 yards away.
Knauff said the deer was mortally wounded and took off toward Gruesbeck’s property. His dad, 42, of Pleasant Lake, called Gruesbeck and asked for permission to track the buck on his land. Gruesback initially was reluctant but ultimately agreed, Knauff said.
As his father and sister approached, they heard a single gunshot. Knauff said they found the buck dead at the feet of Gruesbeck and his two grandchildren.
Knauff said the only bullet wound to the buck was the one his father was responsible for. He said Gruesbeck fired a shot into the ground. His father was readying to take the massive deer when Gruesbeck said the beast belonged to him, then told Knauff’s father to leave his property before he called police, according to Knauff.
Ron Gruesbeck poses with the deer that won him the Mid Michigan Buck Pole. Another hunter disputes Gruesbeck’s ownership of the kill.
Courtesy WLNS
Gruesbeck said that is not what happened.
“I can show you where (Tyrone Knauff) hit the deer,” he said. “He hit it in the upper leg. It ran over onto my place and I shot it right through the lungs and killed it.
“The one who makes the killing shot gets the deer. The shot that he hit it with wouldn’t have bothered it.”
Knauff alleges Gruesbeck is lying, taking credit for something he didn’t do. It’s a bad thing to do to another hunter and another person, he said.
“It’s really crushing,” Knauff said. “My dad has passed up bucks for at least six or seven years to let them mature. The one chance he has, he does everything he should as a respectful hunter. He’s pretty much left out to dry. It’s just ruined for him.
“(Gruesbeck) is on TV, holding up my dad’s deer. To know that this guy gave my dad permission to come track it and then told him in front of my own sister and his grandchildren to get off his property and that he’s taking the deer, it’s crushing.
“That’s my dad’s deer that he won that buck pole with, that’s my dad’s mount that’ll be in his house, that’s my dad’s food that’ll be on his table. That’s messed up.”
Gruesbeck maintains the deer belongs to him and he’s willing to prove it.
“We tracked it. There was one drop of blood every 20 yards where (Tyrone Knauff) hit it,” Gruesbeck said. “Where I shot it, it was like blood was poured out of a five-gallon pail.
“I have the deer at my house. I’ve shown a lot of people and will show anyone.”
Regardless of the disputed ownership, both sides can agree the buck is a magnificent trophy.
“It’s immaculate,” Knauff said. “This is the largest deer we’ve ever seen as far as body and the antlers go. All around, this buck was so big that my dad wouldn’t have been able to move it.”
Gruesbeck has brought in more than 50 deer in his lifetime, and there’s no question where this one ranks.
“It’s my biggest deer,” he said.
Knauff said he has reached out to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on the incident but has not heard back. He said he isn’t optimistic.
“This seriously is a heartbreaking story,” Knauff said. “That’s something right there that could ruin hunting for a guy.”