Slingshot, a famed mule deer buck that lived near Denver, died on Sunday, likely after being gored by another buck during a fiercely violent mating season battle.
Slingshot was gigantic, and probably got his name from the resemblance his rack bore to the “V” at the top of an old-fashioned slingshot.
His carcass was discovered Sunday near a walking path at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Denver.
There was a puncture wound behind the buck’s right front leg, wildlife photographers Fred McClanahan Jr. of Fort Collins and James Wishon of Lakewood told Cowboy State Daily.
They were on the scene when Slingshot’s carcass was being inspected by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service game wardens on Sunday.
Wishon said he was later told by wildlife refuge personnel that a necropsy revealed Slingshot died from a punctured lung, and the wound had come from another buck’s antler.
Wishon started photographing Slingshot in 2024, and said, “he didn’t look like himself” and appeared weakened and exhausted on Saturday. So, there’s been speculation that he was wounded that day.
“It just sucks knowing that I’m never going to get pictures of him again. But at least he passed in peace,” he said.
Slingshot was a famous mule deer buck that lived on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver. (Courtesy Call of The Wild Photography/James Wishon) 
Slingshot was a famous mule deer buck that lived on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver. (Courtesy Call of The Wild Photography/James Wishon) 
A famous Colorado mule deer buck called slingshot died Sunday. It’s thought he was fatally wounded in a fight with another buck. (Courtesy Fred McClanahan Jr.) 
The ground is torn up where a famous Colorado mule deer buck called Slingshot is thought to have fought another buck to the death. (Courtesy Call of The Wild Photography/James Wishon) 
The antlers of a famous Colorado mule deer called Slingshot were so huge, some people mistook them for tree branches. (Courtesy Call of The Wild Photography/James Wishon)
The ‘Popeye’ Of Colorado?
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is about 16,000 acres. It was established in 1992, on land previously used as an Army chemical weapons site.
It’s home to both mule deer and white-tailed deer, as well as numerous other wild bird and animal species, and is a favorite spot for wildlife watchers and photographers.
Among the refuge’s numerous critters, Slingshot started to gain special notoriety a few years ago. His fanbase grew as his antlers started to reach jaw-dropping proportions, in terms of their mass, the spread between the main branches, and their gnarly, atypical growth pattern.
When his latest set of antlers came in this spring and summer, Slingshot had started to develop some “palmation,” meaning resemblance to paddle-like antlers of bull moose, Wishon said.
“His antlers were so massive the first time I saw them sticking up out of the grass, I thought at first it was branches on a tree stump,” he said.
Slingshot’s fame could perhaps be compared to that of Popeye, a huge Wyoming mule deer buck from the 1980s and early 1990s.
He was part of the legendary Wyoming monster buck trio, Popeye, Morty and Goliath.
The Mighty Slingshot Falls
McClanahan said that on Sunday, he and Wishon were enjoying watching an all-out brawl between several white-tailed bucks at the refuge.
It’s the deer rut, or mating season, when bucks fight for dominance and access to does.
“We heard that a mule deer carcass had been found” and decided to go investigate, he said.
Upon seeing the carcass, “we knew right away that it was Slingshot,” he added.
McClanahan said he was saddened to see such an iconic deer fall, but was grateful that it apparently happened in a natural manner.
“It happens. It’s nature. At least he didn’t get poached or hit by a car,” he said.
Didn’t Look Well On Saturday
People had already been worried about Slingshot, because he looked miserable on Saturday.
Wishon said he saw Slingshot that day and took a few photos.
He noted that the buck’s ears were drooping, and he looked exhausted.
He was also hunched over.
“He almost looked like he was going to puke,” Wishon said.
Even so, he said that he didn’t notice any puncture wounds on Slingshot on Saturday.
So, he wonders if Slingshot was already wounded at that point, or was just exhausted from earlier fights.
He and McClanahan noted that the ground where Slingshot’s carcass was found looked torn up, as if an epic buck battle had happened there.
“The ground was disturbed, and there were some big tufts of mule deer hair there,” Wishon said.
While his days of photographing Slingshot are over, Wishon said he’s thankful that there are other huge bucks on the refuge to admire.
And Slingshot won’t soon be forgotten.
“He lived a good life,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
