THOMPSONVILLE -- Benzie County authorities find Richard Buckner's story udderly preposterous.
Colfax Township resident Buckner, 42, contends he shot and killed a pregnant, 1,400-pound breeding cow because he mistook it for a coyote.
The cow's owners are howling over the coyote tale, and sheriff's officials say they plan to mooooove ahead with criminal charges.
DeAnn Mosher owned the cream-and-white cow, Hannah, that wandered away from her hobby farm and allegedly into Buckner's sights near his house on Wooden Bridge Road early Nov. 17.
"Apparently, he said he saw some movement through the brush ... and thought it was a coyote," Mosher said. "My husband thought that he should go through some therapy looking at repeated pictures of cows and coyotes because they look nothing alike."
Buckner, authorities said, shot the cow but didn't kill it with the initial shot. He allegedly shot it twice more and chained the bovine to his vehicle.
"I don't know how he hit a several-thousand-pound cow mistaking it for a coyote," said Rory Heckman, Benzie County's undersheriff. "It's hard for him to explain away shooting it two more times and trying to drag it away with his vehicle."
Mosher's father, Tom Besey, said he was searching for Hannah when he heard a shot near Buckner's property. He then saw Buckner dragging the prized cow, valued at $2,000, with his truck.
That's when Besey confronted Buckner and the suspect began to milk the coyote story, Besey said.
"He said he didn't mean to, he thought it was a coyote. He said it was laying down and saw the ear twitching so he shot it," Besey said. "Once he shot it and saw it was a cow, why didn't he call the authorities and say he shot a cow by mistake?
"I believe if he got it to his garage it would have been the last time I seen the cow."
Authorities are seeking several charges against Buckner, including attempted larceny, reckless discharge of a firearm, property damage, attempting to take a game animal during closed season and hunting without a proper small game license.
Hunting coyotes is illegal during the firearm deer season, which runs from Nov. 15 through Nov. 30.
Buckner turned Hannah over to Besey, who moved the animal to his King Road farm and reported the shooting to sheriff's officials. The cow since was butchered, Besey said.
Hannah was pregnant with a bull calf when she died, Mosher said.
"The fact that we lost a pet and she was the only cow we had bothers me," she said. "At least we were able to use the meat from her; she didn't go to waste."
Buckner did not return a message seeking comment.
Print this story
E-mail this story
