Professional Deer Hunter Sues Iowa DNR Officer for Malicious Prosecution

A self-proclaimed “professional deer hunter” from Iowa has hurled a contentious lawsuit in the direction of an Iowa DNR officer. Mark Allen Luster, whose Linkedin profile undoubtedly contains at least one grip and grin, claims officer Dan Henderson cooked the books on a recent investigation he alleges contains some iffy search warrants and illegal drone surveillance.

In a story with a few apparent fourth amendment fumbles, Luster filed a lawsuit against Henderson in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa earlier this week. The lawsuit accuses Henderson of malicious prosecution, alleging that the officer included false or misleading information in search warrant applications, causing significant damage to Luster’s reputation and business as a hunter and land management consultant.

The case stems from events in the summer of 2024, when Luster was developing an 82-acre hunting property he co-owned in Iowa. Reports indicated that in October of last year, Luster arrowed a nice-sized buck on the property and later posted a picture of his kill on Facebook with the caption “Checkmate!” proudly displayed beneath it.

According to the suit, officer Henderson allegedly was tipped off by a confidential informant who had seen the Facebook picture and alleged that the buck was shot over a bait pile. As Henderson prodded the informant as to how he knew bait was placed on the property, the informant revealed he had secretly gathered aerial drone footage that showed a deer “utilizing” a bait product known as a “buck muffin,” a nutritional supplement for deer.

The confidential tip prompted officer Henderson to obtain a search warrant to collect soil samples from the property to determine whether bait had been used, claiming he had learned of the illegal baiting by comments someone had made in passing. Given that flying a drone over a farmstead property in the state of Iowa is an illegal activity, Luster’s team claimed that Henderson was concealing the fact that his team obtained evidence of his claims illegally.

“Officer Henderson either did not want to disclose that the confidential informant had illegally obtained the information that he was relying on, or he did not want to disclose that the aerial drone photos were obtained through some other improper means,” the lawsuit alleges.

Luster’s legal team went on to contend that any bait was removed by September 2024, well before Luster harvested a deer on the property in October.

Despite this, Henderson pursued misdemeanor charges against Luster, which could have led to the revocation of his hunting license. On March 18, the charges were dismissed after the DNR refused to disclose the identity of a material witness. However, the lawsuit claims the damage was already done, as Luster’s reputation—crucial in the tight-knit professional hunting community—was severely harmed.

Luster’s lawsuit alleges that Henderson’s actions were driven by personal animosity, obviously fueled by Luster’s success as a prominent figure in Iowa’s hunting community. 

“In the professional hunting community, one’s reputation is paramount to financial success, and allegations that a person unlawfully hunted with bait provide a significant stain on a professional hunter’s reputation,” the lawsuit alleges. “Luster has suffered significant reputational harm, which has led to his loss of speaking appearances on hunting podcasts, derogation by those that comment on hunting matters, and a loss of business for Luster as a professional land manager and designer of hunting grounds.”

Luster is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for the unlawful search and malicious prosecution. The lawsuit names Henderson in his personal capacity, not the DNR itself, emphasizing the officer’s individual actions as the basis for the claims.

As of right now, officer Henderson has not filed a response to the lawsuit and has not released any public comments on the matter.