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Bowhunter bags two locked deer
Jim Willmsen of Cedar Rapids came home with these two deer Friday. The deers' antlers were locked, and the larger buck (left) was dragging the smaller buck, which had died. Willmsen plans to mount the rare trophy, saying it could be worth $50,000.
CEDAR RAPIDS - Bowhunter Jim Willmsen shot the biggest buck of his life Friday afternoon, and that was only the half of it.
Literally.
The roughly 18-point buck he shot and killed was dragging with it a dead 10-point buck. The two deer had fought and their antlers had become irreversibly joined.
"They are locked," Willmsen said. "You can't get them undone."
The smaller buck had been dead at least for a day, Willmsen said.
The larger one presumably snapped the smaller one's neck and would have dragged its rival's carcass until it, too, died, said Aric Sloterdyk, the Department of Natural Resources conservation officer in Cedar Rapids.
VIDEO: Jim Willmsen talks about his two antler-locked bucks
Willmsen, 39, of northeast Cedar Rapids, was beaming Saturday after checking in with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department in the morning.
"It's like winning the lottery," he said as he showed off the larger buck's palmated -- like a moose's -- antlers.
He said he had to drag the two bucks up a steep hill to get to his truck. His father, John Willmsen, and friend James Fisher helped him. He wouldn't say where he killed the buck.
Saturday night, he was trying to get in touch with a taxidermist. He plans to mount the two heads together on a rotating oak pedestal in his basement.
He already has four mounted bucks decorating the downstairs, but this will be the biggest prize.
"I don't know how I'm going to beat this one," he said.
The bowhunting season for deer continues through Jan. 20 in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and other Iowa cities that authorize bow hunts in an effort to control deer population. As of last night, 150 deer had been taken in Cedar Rapids.
Jim Willmsen of Cedar Rapids came home with these two deer Friday. The deers' antlers were locked, and the larger buck (left) was dragging the smaller buck, which had died. Willmsen plans to mount the rare trophy, saying it could be worth $50,000.
CEDAR RAPIDS - Bowhunter Jim Willmsen shot the biggest buck of his life Friday afternoon, and that was only the half of it.
Literally.
The roughly 18-point buck he shot and killed was dragging with it a dead 10-point buck. The two deer had fought and their antlers had become irreversibly joined.
"They are locked," Willmsen said. "You can't get them undone."
The smaller buck had been dead at least for a day, Willmsen said.
The larger one presumably snapped the smaller one's neck and would have dragged its rival's carcass until it, too, died, said Aric Sloterdyk, the Department of Natural Resources conservation officer in Cedar Rapids.
VIDEO: Jim Willmsen talks about his two antler-locked bucks
Willmsen, 39, of northeast Cedar Rapids, was beaming Saturday after checking in with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department in the morning.
"It's like winning the lottery," he said as he showed off the larger buck's palmated -- like a moose's -- antlers.
He said he had to drag the two bucks up a steep hill to get to his truck. His father, John Willmsen, and friend James Fisher helped him. He wouldn't say where he killed the buck.
Saturday night, he was trying to get in touch with a taxidermist. He plans to mount the two heads together on a rotating oak pedestal in his basement.
He already has four mounted bucks decorating the downstairs, but this will be the biggest prize.
"I don't know how I'm going to beat this one," he said.
The bowhunting season for deer continues through Jan. 20 in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and other Iowa cities that authorize bow hunts in an effort to control deer population. As of last night, 150 deer had been taken in Cedar Rapids.
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