Posted: 11/21/06
Deer found with antlers locked
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Two deer with their antlers interlocked were found near Brownsville on November 17.
Dave Foellmi, who was blading the road for the City of Brownsville, saw one of the deer in a creek on the north side of Cork Hollow Drive at the spot near where the blacktop ends.
When he drove back and saw the deer still standing there, he got out and looked more closely. He saw that it was interlocked with another deer lying dead in the muddy water.
Another man, Gail Kletzke, called 9-1-1, and chief deputy Ken Frank and captain Gary Eddy responded. DNR conservation officer Scott Fritz also came.
The deer that was standing was in poor shape, trembling and stressed, Fritz said, so he gave the order to shoot it. ěThe humane thing to do was to put it down,î Fritz said. Eddy shot the animal.
Fritz called Karla Kinstler from the Houston Nature Center and asked if she would be interested in having the antlers on display. She said yes.
Fritz also called Jim Willard, a taxidermist who lives on Cork Hollow Road, about mounting the animals. Willard said he would be willing to mount the animals on a partial donation basis.
Willard drove his Gator over and winched the deer out of the muddy hole where their fatal battle had ended. The men loaded them onto trailer. The antlers are at Willardís shop now.
The capes were in poor shape after the fighting and deaths, so anyone interested in donating capes for the mounts can call Willard at 507-482-9453.
It was the second time this season that two trophy class sized bucks were found interlocked. The other one was found north of Houston on November 12. The landowner was squirrel hunting when he found two huge bucks with their antlers locked. One had died, and the other was still alive. The game warden from Winona County, Tom Hemker, killed it.
In both instances, one deer was dead and one was alive. ěItís unusual,î Fritz said.
Willard said one of the racks was 14 points and would gross score in the mid-170s in Boone and Crockett points. The other was a 12 pointer that would score in the mid-140s in Boone and Crockett points, Willard said.
The racks interlocked because one of the tines hooked out instead of going straight up, Willard said. They would have come unlocked if one of the deer could have somersaulted or tumbled over the other, he said. He was able to get them unlocked quite easily. He has joined them back the way they were, and has them tied together so they stay that way in the final mount.
Willard isnít sure what that will be, but he envisions two shoulder mounts on pedestals so that people can walk around them.
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