Teenage Hunter Gets His First Buck Stolen, Recovers It the Next Day

A 15-year-old Wisconsin hunter skilled an emotional curler coaster over the weekend when he shot his first buck, solely to have the deer stolen earlier than he might get a tag on it. But due to a viral social media put up and assist from native legislation enforcement, Garrett Diehm obtained his trophy buck again.

According to Garrett’s mother Sarah Diehm, who made the unique Facebook put up together with a YouTube video concerning the incident, Garrett was searching on his grandparents’ property in Columbia County on Saturday, the opening day of Wisconsin’s nine-day gun season. The younger man shot the buck that morning, and it went down inside 100 yards of his stand. Like most first time deer hunters, Garrett was ecstatic when he noticed the animal fall. Unlike many first deer, nevertheless, Garrett’s buck was a stud, with heavy foremost beams, just a few kickers, and at the least 12 scoreable factors.

Garrett was so excited that after snapping just a few footage, he and his mother walked as much as the home to point out the photographs off to his grandparents. They additionally grabbed a wagon to haul out the deer, together with another provides. But by the point they obtained again to the place they’d left the buck, it was nowhere to be discovered. Garrett was devastated.

“I was just amazed and really mad. I did not think that would happen to us back on our own property way back in the woods where there’s like nobody back there,” Garrett later advised a native information outlet.

It didn’t take lengthy for Sarah to show their anger into motion. That afternoon, she made a Facebook put up explaining what had occurred. That put up went viral in a rush, with greater than 4,000 individuals sharing it earlier than the day was executed. Sarah additionally filed a report with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the native sheriff’s workplace, and so they started their joint investigation that day.

The subsequent morning, somebody within the household walked outdoors to search out the buck’s head and cape wrapped in a trash bag and sitting on the hood of the grandmother’s automotive. The recreation warden and Sheriff’s deputy got here out instantly, and when the warden unwrapped the top, he found it had a hunter’s registration quantity tagged to it. To everybody’s shock, the hunter who took the buck returned to the property, the place he confessed and defined that he’d already introduced it in to get processed.

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“The guy came back and confessed,” Sarah explains within the video. “He thought someone lost the deer while tracking it. The deer was about 80 feet from the stand it was shot from. He did not try to find the owner of the deer. Instead, he tagged the deer in his name and took it to a butcher to be processed. He did apologize to my son and myself. He also said he will pay the butcher’s processing fee.” 

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office confirms that the person who confessed to taking the deer was charged with theft and trespassing. They additionally credited Sarah’s unique Facebook put up for serving to fast-track their investigation.

“A big thank you to the Facebook sleuths and for everyone who shared the story,” the sheriff’s workplace wrote in a Facebook put up on Sunday. “The original post from this hunting family has gotten over 4,500 shares in less than a day. Without that, this quick outcome would not have been possible.”

Paul Nadoski, the sport warden who led the investigation, stated the incident additionally serves as a reminder for hunters to maintain an in depth eye on their trophies. Antler theft appears to be on the rise nowadays, and Outdoor Life has already reported on the rash of stolen racks within the West this season.

“Don’t leave anything of value out where people can see it,” Nadoski stated yesterday. “There are people in this world that are just that way—they are going to come and try to take it.”