Spring thaw reveals last fall’s hunting mystery

I’ve been waiting a few weeks to post this one hoping my friend would come through with some additional pictures.   Seems last fall a buddy and his son were watching two nice bucks on their trail cameras hoping to get a shot at them during the Minnesota archery season.   To no avail, the deer just disappeared and nobody else hunting the area reported any sightings well into the fall season.

Of course, when you get pictures on your trail camera this can be sort of a teaser.   Yet, the mystery grew intriguing because two nice bucks literally vanished and left a bunch of hunters scratching their heads as to where the deer could have disappeared to.

Well, lo and behold, last month (March 13th to be exact) one of those hunters stumbled upon the answer.   He was down by his lakeside dock when a peculiar sight caught his attention.   What he found was the skeletal remains of two nice deer, horns locked, decaying in the grass.   No doubt these two boys were in the heat of the battle during last season’s rut when they met their unfortunate demise.

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Some might say the pictures are rather gross in appearance.   Others might say the pictures show a disturbing sight where two fine bucks in the prime of their life succumb to an unfortunate occurrence of nature.   Either way, the pictures show that nature is not always kind to its inhabitants.   It also shows that nature can provide lots of drama for those who care to learn and discover more about it.

The pictures I had hope to also include in this blog were some of the living shots my buddy took with his trail camera.   I thought that would be a fine way to pay tribute to these once nice bucks.   Time being of the essence, I decided to finally publish these pics anyway without the other shots.

Now that last fall’s hunting mystery is finally solved it’s time for new storylines to develop in the woods.   Still, the story of these two bucks locked in battle will remain in local deer hunting lore for many years to come.   For this group of hunters they read and hear about this sort of thing happening all the time in the woods.   It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to actually live it first-hand.

©2010 Jim Braaten.   All Rights Reserved.   No Reproduction without Prior Permission.