State v. Guffey, 262 S.W.2d 152 (Mo. App. 1953)

Facts: Conservation agents stuffed and posed a roadkill deer beside a highway as a decoy. ∆ stopped and shot at it, believing it was a live deer in closed season. Charged under V.A.M.S. § 252.040 (taking a deer in closed season).
Issue: Whether ∆'s shooting of a decoy that was, in reality, not a deer constitutes "pursuing" a deer for purposes of attempt.
Rule: Legal impossibility is a defense to attempt. If, even on ∆'s view of the facts, no crime would be committed, ∆ cannot be convicted of attempt.
Analysis: The statute proscribes pursuing a deer. The decoy was not a deer—not a wild animal at all. ∆'s success would have meant shooting taxidermy, not a deer. No crime, no attempt.
Judgment: Conviction reversed.

Reading: pp. 284–91. Old-school legal-impossibility defense. Cf. State v. Curtis, 603 A.2d 356 (Vt. 1992) for the modern rejection. See Impossibility.