Injured wildlife is a fact of life in the Northland, but it is still disturbing to see an animal suffering.
Some campers at Judge Magney State Park called Cook County Law Enforcement at about 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2014 reporting an injured whitetail buck struggling to get out of a waterfall on Devil Track River. It took quite awhile for Cook County Sheriff Deputies to find the buck to put it out of its misery.
Deputy Julie Collman said the buck was about an eighth of a mile up the river from Highway 61, where Woods Creek empties into the bigger river. Deputy Collman said it took three tries to reach the deer because each time deputies started the hike up river another more pressing emergency call came through.
Deputies had to cross the river four times, sloshing through thigh deep, rushing water and when they finally reached the buck, it was out of the water, curled up against the steep bank. Its leg was broken in several places so it was put down.
Collman said the injury didn’t appear to be something that the deer could live with. “I hate to put them down though,” she said.
When the deputies got back to Highway 61, bystanders asked what they had been doing. When they were informed of the dead deer—a six-point buck—a family from Cottonwood, Minnesota asked if they could have the meat. A possession permit was issued and they retrieved the buck.
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