Deer in basement surprises construction crew

WISCONSIN -- Members of a construction crew in the Brown County town of Scott had a wild start to their day. A nine-point buck was trapped Monday night in the basement of the home the crew was building.

Workers noticed the deer did not seem to be injured, and wardens were called in to make the rescue.
“In 13 years of working here, nothing, nothing like this,” Matt Bukowiec said..

Bukowiec says he arrived to his construction work site early Tuesday morning.

“Got out of the truck instantly heard some rumbling in the basement. Figured it was some type of an animal,” said Bukowiec, who works for Steve Fischer Construction.
Some type of animal indeed.

“He said in his own words, you guys got to see this. Here's a nine-point buck running crazy in the basement,” said Tom Treml, a coordinator with Tim Halbrook Builders.

Treml called the Department of Natural Resources, then grabbed his camera.

“The deer was just going pretty crazy. At one time we thought it almost broke its leg,” Treml said. “It was running so scared down in between some frame walls we had. It must have been so tired. Its rear legs, hind legs just got like rubber.

“How are we going to get that out of there? Oh my god, a deer in the basement, how are we going to get this out of here?” Bukowiec said.

DNR wildlife technician Josh Jackl tranquilized the buck with one shot. Crews used a forklift and a makeshift gurney to lift the 180-pound buck out of the nine-foot hole.

“Put the deer on the plywood, hoisted him up, got him out. Put him down on the ground. Picked him up, and slid him into the back of the pickup truck,” Jackl said.

The deer was taken to what the DNR calls an undisclosed location. A warden kept watch for the rest of the day until the nine-point buck was able to walk away on its own.

“In my eyes, it's a trophy animal, and in a lot of people's eyes it probably is,” Jackl said. “Just happened to step in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”

Wardens say the deer is fair game for hunters, but it has a red tag in its ear. They warn, the tranquilizer chemicals will remain in the deer for the next month. If you harvest this deer, you are asked to call the U.S. Department of Agriculture at 1-866-487-3297 before eating the meat.

(FOX11 - Nov 7, 2013)