The story of the CJ Alexander buck captivated hunters, and even inspired some to donate to his cause. As it turned out, his narrative was a complete fraud. As the story goes, Alexander made a bad shot but was able to recover the deer with the help of a buddy the next day. The deer was a true giant, and a member of Ohio’s Buckeye Big Buck club went on to score the rack at 206 7 / 8 inches, which would have made it the biggest typical buck ever taken in Ohio and one of the biggest typical bucks ever taken by a hunter. But over the weeks and months of OL coverage that followed, Alexander’s initial story began to unravel. As documents from the poaching investigation would show, Alexander had, in fact, illegally shot the deer on private land that he had trespassed on. And it’s clear his motivation for shooting the deer was fame and fortune. But now that the case is closed and the story is told, we think it’s worth reflecting on what should be learned from this crime and how it was covered...