Rack up this trophy to walk in the woods

Post date: Dec 30, 2010 3:53:50 PM

An elk with massive antlers was spotted mired in the snow. After he finally died, he provided a mighty trop

By BRAD DOKKEN, Grand Forks Herald

Last update: December 29, 2010 - 10:10 PM

Ryan Muirhead and a couple of hunting buddies were driving the back roads of Kittson County on Dec. 12 -- the last morning of Minnesota's muzzleloader deer season -- when they came across a spectacle.

There in the snow, just a few yards off the road, was a bull elk lying on its back, its massive antlers mired 8 to 10 inches in the ground.

The antlers would measure among the largest ever scored by Boone and Crockett, the organization that has recorded the scores of trophy animals since 1830.

"We drove up, and here he was on state land," Muirhead, of Roseau, Minn., said. "He landed upside down just like a turtle."

They hadn't been there long when some local residents came driving by. A crew of people soon was there with a 10-foot-long 2-by-4, which they got under the bull's antlers to pry its head out of the mud and turn the animal on his side.

"We got him rolled over thinking he was going to dart, but he was so tired, he had no steam left," Muirhead said.

"Finally, he got up and stopped and looked back at us," Muirhead said. "You could see he was looking like a 90-year-old man who'd just gotten beat up in an alleyway."

No sign of the bull

Muirhead drove back to the area the next day, approaching the woods from a different direction in hopes of spotting the bull with the rest of the herd. But there was no sign of the bull.

He drove back again the next morning -- this time with his wife, Josie. They'd gone maybe 600 yards into the woods when Josie spotted the bull bedded down in the snow. They walked within about 25 yards, he said, but the bull was so exhausted it couldn't stand.

He snapped a few photos, and they went home.

Muirhead returned alone later in the day. More than 48 hours now had passed since they freed the bull from the mud, and it was obvious that death was at hand. With the temperature barely above zero, Muirhead held vigil for six hours until the elk had taken its last breath late that afternoon.

"Your heart just drops," he said. "It's a sad deal when you see him laying there dying. But there's nothing you can do."

DNR contacted

Muirhead, who was interested in keeping the antlers, contacted the DNR, and conservation officer Ben Huener of Roseau responded.

"They gave us a call like we encourage people to do," Huener said.

"They were interested in the antlers and in the elk itself, and I was interested in the forensics of seeing if it was a crime scene. That was my No. 1 priority."

Huener retained the elk, and staff members from the wildlife office in Karlstad, Minn., took blood and tissue samples and collected a tooth to age the animal. Huener said he also examined the bull, which appeared to be 10 to 14 years old, to make sure it hadn't been shot.

Huener eventually called with the good news: Everything checked out, and the DNR was granting them a permit to possess the animal. Huener delivered the elk to the Muirhead residence.

The Muirheads plan to have the cape and the head mounted. Randy Dufault, an official measurer for the Boone and Crockett Club, green-scored the rack at 456 1/2 inches. The antlers have to dry for 60 days from the time of the green-score measuring before they can be officially scored.

If the score holds up after it dries, Dufault said, it would rank No. 5 in the world.