Story Archive

Bucking the Odds

While photographer Jeff Sidle was capturing the animal on video, Josh Davis and Ed Schmalzle were working to rescue the 8 point buck, trapped on the ice at Greeley Lake, Pa. Using a boat to distribute his weight, Davis reached the deer, lassoed him, and brought him back to shore, where he ran off. “I wouldn’t want to see the deer suffer,” Davis said. “I am a hunter. There’s a giant difference between an animal being harvested humanely and one being left out to die on the frozen ice.” His helper agreed: “If it wasn’t for him,” Schmalzle said, “the deer might have been laying out there yet.” Davis couldn’t help but wonder if the large trophy buck wasn’t hunted down later, though. “If someone did happen to get him on Monday,” he said, “that’s feeding a family as opposed to him sitting out there going to waste.” (MS/WNEP Scranton) ...The buck stops there.