ALPINE, Arizona — A raghorn bull elk, a Bobcat and a wildlife manager is not the setup for a corny joke – but it is the start of a recent rescue near Alpine.
Kalyn Miller, the Pinetop wildlife manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said she had just completed a helicopter elk survey when she got a call from the Alpine Fire Department about an elk stuck in a 6-foot trench.
Upon arrival, Miller tried digging the elk out, but the animal wouldn’t budge and appeared to be getting tired, Miller wrote in her report from the field which was posted to AZGFD's Facebook page.
Luckily for both the elk and Miller, a Bobcat was nearby. The owner of the Bobcat brought the machine over and after Miller tied a quick-release knot around the elk’s antlers, they began to slowly pull the elk out.
Once the elk was out of the trench, he quickly got his legs under him and ran off unharmed once Miller released the knot.
“I'm sure the bull will need a recovery day, but it won't take him long for him to get back into the rut!" Miller wrote.
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