Wildlife policemans Dawson Swanson and Scott Murdoch were able to locate and tranquilize the elk after a resident spotted him in their neighborhood.

The elusive bull would disappear into the wilderness and also not be seen for months. The elk was first spotted in July 2019 with the tire around his neck by wild animals policeman Jared Lamb.

Murdoch explained in a news release why it took years to track down the elk. “Being up in the wilderness, we really did not truly expect to be able to obtain our hands on the elk just because of the proximity or the range away from civilization. It is harder to get the further they are back in there and also typically the further these elk are far from people, the wilder they act. That certainly played true the last couple of years, this elk was challenging to find, and tougher to get near to.”

Over the years he was found a few times on trail video cameras, but officials believe breeding period is what drew him in close enough to be caught.

The 600-pound elk is estimated to be four-and-a-half years old and has actually carried the tire around for at least half of his life.

On Saturday night the tire was lastly removed along with the 10 pounds of particles inside it. The policemans had no choice but to remove his antlers.

But don’t worry he will expand brand-new ones. Bull elk shed their horns yearly in late winter season as well as regrow them in the spring.

” We would certainly have preferred to reduce the tire and leave the horns for his rutting activity, however the situation was dynamic and also we needed to just get the tire off in any way possible,” stated Murdoch.

He took place to state, “It was difficult for sure, we needed to move it just right to get it off because we weren’t able to reduce the steel in the bead of the tire. Fortunately, the bull’s neck still had a little room to move.”

After the tire was eliminated, the officers were stunned to see that aside from a tiny injury and also rub marks the elk appeared to be fine.

They administered a reversal shot to get up the elk and also sent him on his way.

CPW claimed, “Wildlife officers have seen deer, elk, moose, bears and other wildlife come to be entangled in a number of man-made obstacles that include swing sets, hammocks, clothes lines, decorative or vacation lights, furniture, tomato cages, chicken feeders, laundry baskets, soccer goals or volleyball webs, and yes, tires.”

They ask that residents “live responsibly with wildlife in mind.”