Recall Buck 8917. He is, by far, the blog’s most famous deer.
Over 55,000 people have read his tragic story.
One cold January, he returned to a summertime retreat to spend the last of his days.
We have no explanation of what caused his death or why he returned to a place he had only visited one time before.
That is, until now.
Buck 8917 appears to have been involved in some sort of altercation with Buck 8937 just before he left the area. After reviewing the movements of Buck 8937, he has been placed at the scene and is probably the last deer to see Buck 8917 alive.
Specifically, note the locations of both deer at 10am on January 23, 2015.
Buck 8937 is wanted for questioning and an APB (All Points Buck) has been issued.
An area-wide search for 8937 will begin Monday, November 30. His antlers are wanted in connection with this potential crime.
If you see or have any information regarding Buck 8937, please contact the DFB hotline.
-Jeannine Fleegle, biologist
PGC Deer and Elk Section
Postscript: How lucky are we to have 2 deer collared in the same area and the ability to identify both deer in the exact same spot just before Buck 8917 left his home range to die? Extremely lucky.
Unfortunately, this really opens up more questions than answers. Buck 8917 was antlerless when he died – but did Buck 8937 still have antlers and did he possibly fatally injure Buck 8917? We’ll never know. Or was Buck 8917 simply ill and these two deer happened to cross paths just before his death? Fascinating.
By the way, why a $0 reward in the wanted poster? It’s because our collared deer do not get reward tags. Deer that are captured but not fitted with a radio-collar receive an ear tag that has a $100 reward for the person who reports the recovery of the deer.
-Duane Diefenbach
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