Conservation officer, landowner save two bull elk

CAREY - Joe Sorensen often sees elk and other wildlife on his ranch south of Carey and Sunday night, September 26, was no exception. "I was out discing and as the light swung across the field I saw two bull elk standing in the creek near our field," he said. "I just thought they were cooling off after a long day of chasing cow elk. The next afternoon I was finishing off the field and saw a splash down by the stream and then saw two elk in the same place again and decided I had better check things out." After moving closer to the stream, Sorensen discovered that two bull elk had locked antlers and were standing in chest-deep water. "As soon as I found out what was going on, I knew I had to do something to help them," Sorensen said. "I called Rob Morris (Fish and Game Senior Conservation Officer) to see if he could help." At 5 p.m. Sorensen called Officer Morris and within the hour he arrived at the scene. "It was a heck of a deal," Morris said. "I knew I couldn't use any drugs to sedate them. If I used the drugs they would probable drown anyway because they would have gone down in the river." After a few minutes of discussion, Morris and Sorensen decided that shooting the antlers at the wedge would break the animals loose from each other. "They were so exhausted from fighting, I was able to get within 20 yards of them," Morris said. Three shots later from a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with slugs, the antlers were broken and the two bulls were separated. "He hit the antlers right in the top wedge," Sorensen said. "The bigger six point bull jumped right out of the stream as soon as the antler broke and the smaller bull just stood there for a few minutes and then jumped out and disappeared." "I saw them again just a few days later and both were doing great," Sorensen said. "I know things like this happen in the wild and the animals die, but I couldn't just stand there and let it happen on my ranch if their was any way I could help them."