Woman says stranger saved her from aggressive buck
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Conifer, CO (KCNC) — A woman says a stranger saved her during a a scary encounter with an aggressive buck. Tawney Hilliard said she was hiking with her dog at Flying J Park in Conifer on Thursday when the small buck approached her. Hilliard said it tried to touch her with his antlers and wouldn’t let them move. Then it licked her dog’s face. She told CBS4 that she tried to distract the buck and ran — but it chased them down.
A man eventually came and distracted the buck and led him away.
Hilliard started recording a video as the man backed away from the buck with his hands out in front of him.
“Doesn’t he seem, like, way too domesticated?” Hilliard asks.
“This is bad news,” you can hear the man say. “Someone is gonna get really hurt.”
Hilliard said she called police.
“I don’t know this man’s name but he saved us in a truly scary situation!!” Hilliard wrote.
It’s not clear what happened with the buck. Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they did not get any reports of aggressive elk in the area.
“This video points to a deer that likely was fed by people,” Jason Clay with CPW told CBS4.
“This is clearly a highly habituated deer… That only happens when people feed them. It’s a chronic problem we deal with in that area, it is illegal,” CPW tweeted.
“When deer are fed by people, they’ll lose their natural fears of humans and they can become aggressive or demanding with people. That creates dangerous situations like what you see here in this video.”
Clay said that can often result in attacks.
CPW officials said they just cited a homeowner in nearby Evergreen earlier in the day for feeding corn to deer.
Clay also pointed out that deer are more aggressive during this time of year.
“We’re in the rut, which is their breeding season.”
“If wildlife approaches you, people should do anything that they can to maintain a distance from the wildlife,” Clay said. “Don’t let that animal come close to you.”
Last September, a golfer was gored by an elk in Evergreen and was seriously injured.
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