matt.johnson@lee.net

"Lawn ornament fight — lost"

That’s what the DNR deer carcass tag said after Mark and Carol Brye of rural Viroqua found a dead seven-point buck in their yard on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Dawn was breaking as the Bryes woke up, and Mark went to make coffee in the couple’s kitchen. He looked out the window and saw that a 640-pound concrete lawn ornament of a bull elk in their yard had been knocked over.

"Instantly I knew that a deer had hit it," Mark said. "There wasn’t any other explanation. That’s just what popped into my head."

Mark continued to brew coffee and Carol went out to get the La Crosse Tribune. Their home is located three miles off Hwys. 14/61/27 toward Esofea. They have a Viroqua address and a Westby phone number. Their children went to Westby schools.

Mark told Carol as she went out, "The buck that hit it probably broke its neck."

After taking a few steps outside, Carol came back in the house. The buck was lying 20 feet away from the knocked-over statue.

"Evidently he took such a run at the statue and hit it so hard that the buck split its skull cap," Carol said. "The deer wasn’t quite dead, but comatose. You could say it had a major headache."

Whitetail deer are in the midst of the "rut" — their annual mating season. Male deer are often overcome with hormonal urges to the point that they disregard their safety instincts. This leads to more dangerous roads for motorists and a threat to concrete lawn ornaments.

"Our bull elk, which our kids bought for us three years ago, is now a cow elk," Carol said. "The antlers were busted off and it’s scratched up."

Vernon County Sheriff’s Deputy John Spears arrived on the scene and took some photos.

"When he was coming over from the sheriff’s department he probably thought it was a crank call," Mark said.

Spears had Mark dispatch the animal. The next day, Mark obtained a deer carcass tag from DNR warden Shawna Stringham of Viroqua. What was the reason for the tag? "Lawn ornament fight — lost," Stringham wrote.

Mark said the buck has already been butchered and is in the Brye’s freezer.