Video of Tangled Up Bucks In Southern Minnesota Being Separated
It's a scene that isn't commonly seen this time of year. Two bucks, attached at the antlers after a scuffle. Luckily a landowner near Hector spotted the two tangled deer and notified the Minnesota DNR and two Conservation Officers were dispatched to separate the two deer. Even more spectacular is the separation was even caught on video.
The video was taken near Hector Minnesota on Friday, January 3rd at approximately 6 P.M. You can watch the video here.
Conservation Officers Lt. Wayne Hatlestad and Officer Brett Wiltrout are seen on video separating the two bucks using ice depth checking bars and a little ingenuity. I spoke with Officer Wiltrout by phone and he gave all credit to the separation plan to Lt. Hatlestad.
Once the bars were in place on the deer, one buck was already deceased when the Conservation Officers arrived, it took about 10 seconds of using the bars and leverage to separate the living buck from the dead buck.
CO Wiltrout advised me that it was rather "late in the season" for deer to be "fighting" and that finding two deer in this atypical situation was "not typical". In most situations like this one, both deer often die from exhaustion.
The freed buck according to CO Wiltrout, had a lot of "pep left in him", and seemed to be just fine after being freed.