Careful who you butt heads with

Rick Kyte

Well-known member
Been off line for several days (it's huntin season, you know) and came back to catch up on all the great conflict threads. We seem to go through this every six months or so.

Anyway, because I don't have anything useless to add, and because I didn't take any good hunting photos this weekend, I thought some of you might be interested in a story out of Viroqua, Wisconsin.

It's about what happens when you decide to butt heads with wrong guy.
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.town...de-a417-001cc4c002e0.image.jpg?_dc=1257832082Unlucky buck: Deer loses head-butt with lawn ornament
By BOB LAMB blamb@lacrossetribune.com | Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 12:15 am [/url]
This 640-pound concrete elk statue lies on its side in the backyard of Mark and Carol Brye’s home in rural Viroqua. The dead buck lies about 20 feet away.

A love-struck buck ran out of luck a week ago. The seven-point buck was killed when it rammed a 640-pound concrete statue of an elk in the backyard of Mark and Carol Brye's home in rural Viroqua.

Bucks often fight during the breeding season, commonly called the rut. Dominant bucks defend breeding territories and female deer by sparring with subordinate bucks. Antler battles sometimes result in the death of one or both deer, but usually end with the biggest buck winning and the smaller buck high-tailing it out to another area.
Mark Brye, who owns Brye Plumbing in Viroqua, was still laughing about the suicidal buck he found near his elk statue last week.

Brye said his morning ritual is to rise early and look out at the life-like statue about 40 yards from his home.
"Our son and daughter gave it to us for Christmas four years ago because we like to hunt elk," Brye said. "The elk is a nice thing to see every morning. It looks pretty cool, especially on a foggy morning."

Brye said he knew exactly what happened when he saw the statue tipped over. Although they were about the same height, the statue weighed at least three times more than the 180-pound deer.
He didn't realize the buck lay dead a short distance away.
"I could tell the buck poked the statue a couple of times by the chipped paint on it," Brye said, adding that the buck eventually rammed it like a mountain goat.

The buck apparently staggered about 20 feet and fell.

Brye claimed the buck with a tag from the Vernon County conservation warden. He laughed at the warden's tag note: "lawn ornament fight - lost."
Brye said the deer shattered its skull. The antlers were still on its head but were dangling.
"The statue is OK, but the antlers broke off when it tipped over," Brye said. "One side of the antlers is in one piece, but the other side is in five pieces."

Brye, 58, is considering removing the antlers from the unlucky buck and gluing them on the elk statue as a remembrance of the strange but true story.

The deer is butchered and in Brye's freezer. The elk remains on its side.
"I can't tip it back up until I get a whole bunch of guys to help me," he said.
 
Rick,

I love it. It is a little too perfect, but that is my training as a skeptic coming out.

T
 
Rick
I've had a deer decoy taken a severe beating by a buck in my woods as I'm sure others have. He's knocked the horns off and put several puncture wounds in the body. This is the second year and I've still yet to see him.
wis boz
 
I too have seen a similar incident. A work colleague and hunting buddy of mine in Iowa had a 3D deer target set up in his back yard and one day while we were both at work his wife called and said a buck was giving that target all he was worth....except that the buck thought the target was a doe (if you get my drift). After work we checked it out and sure enough, the back of that target was downright bloody. Poor fella. To be driven that far by your hormones just ain't right.

Kevin
 
Rick
I haven't fired a gun. I hunted with my son on the Pestigo, then in the Portage area in a private honey hole with one lone duck that my son got. This might sound crazy to some non hunters but I got my duck boat/decoys out (it's been 2 years) hitched up and headed to a small lake close by. Knowing it was a blue bird day and there wouldn't be any ducks flying I had to go set out the decoys; sit until sunset then retrieve everything just to see if I could do it physically. It took me 20 minutes, in the dark, just to back the trailer in to retrieve my duck boat. I got it all done but paid the price the next day. It got slammed home to me that my days of hunting alone are over. After 69 years (minus 3 WWII) of duck hunting with buddies and alone I still plan to continue hunting and will take up the offers I've had to hunt with others. You didn't expect such a long answer to your question I'll bet. I had several reports of those cans in that area Pete McMiller hunted and glad he was able to get into them. How's your hunting been and is your boy (the deer slayer) enjoying it also?
Jim
 
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Jim,
You're fortunate to have friends to hunt with. My dad didn't hunt this year for the first time since he was a little kid. He says it's because of his knees, but I think he just doesn't have the friends anymore to keep him interested.
My hunting this year has been up and down. Evan had a good youth hunt and opening weekend, but then he got too busy with football and other school stuff to go out much. We were deer hunting last weekend. Evan saw a couple but didn't want to take a shot at their tails. I was pleased with that. He's turning into a hunter.
Rick
 
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