Hunters save deer stranded on thin ice in southeastern North Dakota
The doe ran off shortly after.
Instead of bagging a buck, these guys rescued a doe during hunting season.
"Hunters are not all about 'just killing'" Jeff Day writes in a lengthy Facebook post that details the rescue.
According to KARE 11 the West Fargo man was driving around Fullerton last week to scout out deer hunting locations in southeastern North Dakota when a young man waved him down.
Day says the young driver asked who he should contact about saving a deer that's stranded on ice. Austin Smiley, Nathan Stadler, Austin Moser and Harlo Olson from Wisconsin noticed the animal while hunting ducks and geese.
Day gave the driver a phone number to the state game and fishing department, and followed the hunters to see the deer.
The animal was sprawled out on the ice about 400 yards out near some open water.
"My first thought was it was going to be a victim to the coyotes as soon as the sun went down this evening," Day writes. "The thought didn't sit well with me with the coyotes feasting on a live deer."
So Day pitched an idea to the four young hunters: want to rescue that deer?
"I asked them if they were truly interested in helping that defenseless critter on the ice, that I would bring my jon boat back," Day says. "They could carry the jon boat out onto the thin ice and slowly put it out to the deer, slip a loose noose around its neck and pull it to the shore."
The young men were thrilled to help, so Day retrieved his flat-bottomed boat and followed through with the plan.
They got the doe safely to shore, let the animal rest for a bit, then helped it stand up. The doe soon bolted off and out of sight as "four young hunters from Wisconsin and an old man from North Dakota smiled from ear to ear."
Day closes off his post with a message to the young men.
"I thank you for reaffirming my belief that there are good and caring people among us. And that being an outdoorsman/outdoors person is as much about giving as taking away."
