Rack up this deer's second chance at life to a good sharpshooter
When two battling bucks got their antlers locked, a DNR officer freed the remaining live animal by shooting off two tines with a pistol.
By Doug Smith, Star Tribune
DNR conservation officer Greg Oldakowski shot tines off this dead deer's rack -- locked with another trophy buck during a fight. The second deer survived the fight and ran off after being freed.
The antlers of the two trophy bucks -- a big 10-pointer and a bigger 14-pointer -- were locked in a death grip after a battle that already had claimed the life of the smaller whitetail.
When bucks battle for dominance -- and breeding rights for does each fall -- the fights can be deadly.
When conservation officer Greg Oldakowski arrived in the woods north of Wadena on Sunday, the live deer was dragging his dead sparring partner out of a small wetland.
The smaller deer likely weighed about 180 pounds and appeared to have been dead a couple of days, Oldakowski said Tuesday. The 14-pointer probably weighed more than 200 pounds, and was still very much alive despite its ordeal.
"He was all full of fire yet," Oldakowski said. "There was no way I was going to get close to him. He was thrashing and throwing that 10-pointer around like a rag doll."
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