A Sublette County sheriff’s deputy threw caution aside and waded into a freezing river near Big Piney, busting through the ice to rescue a mule deer doe and her fawn.
Deputy Jason Overbaugh said that when he saw the deer’s plight, he knew there wasn’t enough time to call for backup and organize a rescue with a boat. So, he decided to go straight in.
“I’m a hunter, but I don’t like to see animals suffer like that. They would have had a slow, miserable death there in the river,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
Overbaugh rescued both deer from the New Fork River at about 10 a.m. New Year’s Day, near Mile Marker 9 on Highway 351, the Pinedale Roundup reported.
Local resident Ally Cogburn told Cowboy State Daily that she spotted the hapless deer
in the river, called for help, and was amazed by Overbaugh’s response.
“He didn’t even hesitate. He just tromped right down to the river; I couldn’t even keep up with him. And by the time I caught up to him, he had already set his gear on the bank and was in the water,” she said.
Moose Unwittingly Contribute
If it hadn’t been for some moose and Cogburn’s perfect timing, the deer likely would have died in the river.
Cogburn said she frequently drives the highway, and on Jan. 1, she spotted three moose, a bull and two cows, on the far bank.
She pulled over and “glassed them” (looked at them through binoculars).
“After I glassed the moose, I was getting ready to leave,” but she noticed something in the river, right below where the moose were hanging out on the bank.
She instantly recognized mule deer by the tell-tale huge ears for which the species is named.
“You could just barely see the momma’s head. And if she hadn’t have moved right then, I would have thought that they were some dead ones floating in the river,” she said.
The river was slushy and icy, from having frozen, thawed and refrozen numerous times recently, Cogburn said.
And the doe and fawn had apparently been trying to cross when they fell through a thin patch of ice and got trapped.
Into The Icy Water
Overbaugh also frequently drives the highway and “I know that section of the river well.” He knows it’s about waist-deep.
So, he knew that he had a good chance of wading across to the deer, roughly 50 yards away.
“I don’t think I was risking life and limb to get to them,” but he knew it would be an ordeal to get there and back.
The air temperature was in the 20s to low 30s, and there were plenty of ice-covered spots in the river that he’d have to bust through to get to the doe and fawn.
He stripped off any gear that the water might ruin and left that, along with his cell phone and wallet, on the bank before plunging in.
“Once I was wet, I was like, ‘well, let’s get this over with,’” he said.
Cogburn watched from the bank, taking video with Overbaugh’s cell phone.
“He just plowed through the ice. He fell, don’t know how many times” but kept going, she said.
Momma Deer Gets A Push
Overbaugh helped the doe first.
“She was already making an effort to get up and out over the ice. And when I gave her a shove, she was able to get out and run off,” she said.
The fawn by that time was lethargic, and needed more help.
“I grabbed her by her neck and her butt, and lifted her up over my head,” he said.
Then he pushed and dragged the fawn to safety.
‘I Didn’t Know The Ice Was Cutting Me’
He tried to warm the fawn by rubbing it, but it hadn’t stood up by the time Overbaugh knew he had to leave, or risk hypothermia.
He’s experienced the initial stages of that potentially deadly condition before, while running an ultra-marathon in the cold Georgia rain.
“I’ve been that deep (toward hypothermia) before, and I didn’t think I was that deep,” he said.
But neither was there any time to waste.
“The worst part was the trip back over,” he said.
He suffered cuts on his hands, breaking the ice to clear his way, but didn’t realize it.
“I didn’t even know the ice was cutting me, because I was so numb by then,” he said.
“My wrists and knuckles and the back of my hands were cut up pretty good. I was dripping blood by the time I got back to the other bank,” he said.
He figures he was in the water for a total of 15 to 20 minutes.
He drove straight home “got out of my wet clothes and took a hot shower,” he said.
“I didn’t get any frostbite. I got ‘frost nip.’ My hands were a little numb for a couple of days,” he said.
‘That’s 100% Him’
Overbaugh said he later returned to the scene and noticed that the fawn was gone.
“I’m assuming momma came back, and the fawn was finally able to get up and left with her,” he said.
He said it’s satisfying knowing that he spared the deer from a terrible death.
Cogburn said that’s just the kind of guy Overbaugh is.
“He’s just the most unassuming, modest guy,” she said.
What he did to save the deer, that’s 100% him,” she added.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
