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      GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Ryan Muirhead and a couple of deer
hunting buddies were driving the back roads of Kittson County on
Dec. 12 - the last morning of Minnesota's muzzleloader deer season
- when they came across a spectacle of nature they'll never forget.


      There in the snow, just a few yards off the road, was a bull elk
lying on its back, its massive antlers mired 8 to 10 inches in
muddy ground that still wasn't frozen, despite an air temperature
of 25 below zero.


      The tracks in the snow suggested the bull had been with a herd
of elk that jumped a fence and crossed onto state land. The bull
made it across the fence, but somehow tripped and landed on his
back.


      It had been there at least two hours, Muirhead said, based on
reports from others who had seen it cross the road about 6:30 a.m.


      "We drove up, and here he was on state land," Muirhead, of
Roseau, Minn., said. "He landed upside down just like a turtle."


      The bull was still alive, and Muirhead and his hunting partners
walked up and considered their options for freeing the big animal.


      "Everybody was standing there going, 'What do we do?"' he
said.


      They didn't know it at the time, but the antlers eventually
would measure among the largest ever scored by Boone and Crockett,
the organization that has recorded the scores of trophy animals
since 1830.


      They hadn't been there long when some local residents came
driving by. A crew of people soon was there with a 10-foot 2-by-4,
which they got under the bull's antlers to pry its head out of the
mire and turn the animal on his side.


      The job, he said, took eight people.


      "We got him rolled over thinking he was going to dart, but he
was so tired, he had no steam left," Muirhead said. The elk
staggered to the fence but fell to the ground.


      "Finally, he got up and stopped and looked back at us,"
Muirhead said. "You could see he was looking like a 90-year-old
man who'd just gotten beat up in an alleyway."

      There'd be no more sign of the elk that day, but Muirhead said
he couldn't get the image of that animal out of his mind. He drove
back to the area the next day, approaching the woods from a
different direction in hopes of spotting the elk with the rest of
the herd.

      Walking miles through knee-deep snow, he came to the area where
the elk were bedding down, but there was no sign of the bull.

      He drove back again the next morning - this time with his wife,
Josie - and they walked into the woods where he'd last seen the
elk. They'd gone maybe 600 yards when Josie spotted the bull bedded
down in the snow. They walked within about 25 yards, he said, but
the bull was so exhausted it couldn't stand.


      He snapped a few photos, and they went home.


      Muirhead returned alone later in the day. More than 48 hours now
had passed since they freed the bull from the mud, and it was
obvious death was at hand. With the temperature barely above zero,
Muirhead held vigil for six hours until the elk had taken its last
breath late that afternoon.


      "Your heart just drops," he said. "It's a sad deal when you
see him laying there dying. But there's nothing you can do about
it."


      Muirhead, who was interested in keeping the big bull's antlers,
contacted the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and DNR
conservation officer Ben Huener of Roseau responded.


      "They gave us a call like we encourage people to do," Huener
said. "They were interested in the antlers and in the elk itself,
and I was interested in the forensics of seeing if it was a crime
scene. That was my No. 1 priority."


      Huener retained the elk, and staff from the area wildlife office
in Karlstad, Minn., took routine blood and tissue samples and
collected a tooth to age the animal. Huener said he also examined
the bull, which appeared to be 10 to 14 years old, to make sure it
hadn't been shot.


      Huener eventually called with the good news: Everything checked
out, and the DNR was granting them a permit to possess the animal.
Huener delivered the elk to the Muirhead residence.


      Muirhead said he credits the DNR for their willingness to work
with him on retaining the elk. The agency, for various reasons,
doesn't always have a great reputation among residents of
northwestern Minnesota, but Muirhead said his experience was
nothing but positive.


      "It was 50/50 that we were going to get this thing," he said.
"I am very fortunate - especially with something of that caliber.
The DNR was easy to work with. It makes you want to do the right
thing, too, after that."


      Muirhead said he isn't sure if they'll be able to use the meat
because the bull was so stressed.

      The Muirheads took the cape and the head of the elk to
Sportsman's Taxidermy Studio in East Grand Forks, where they
planned to have it mounted. Randy Dufault, an official measurer for
the Boone and Crockett Club, green-scored the rack at 456 1/2
inches. The antlers have to dry for 60 days from the time of the
green-score measuring before they can be officially scored.


      The rack, Dufault said, will score as a 6x7 typical with some
non-typical points, even though it had 9 points on one side and 10
on the other with an asymmetrical pattern.

      By any measure, Dufault said, the rack is the largest he's ever
scored. If the score holds up after it dries, Dufault said it would
rank No. 5 in the world. The world record non-typical elk - taken
in Utah and certified in 2009 - officially scored 478 5/8.


      "I've only done one over 400 in my whole life," Dufault said -
in New Mexico, a state known for producing elk with trophy racks.
"To be 456, that's just amazing.


      "I've seen a lot of bulls way wider than this and way higher
than this, but I've never seen this kind of mass," Dufault added.
"This is really big. You never see one like this in Minnesota."


      The Muirheads, meanwhile, have shown the antlers to numerous
visitors since taking possession of the bull. The antlers are so
massive a full-grown man couldn't get his hands around the base,
which measures 13 1/8 inches on the right side.


      "It's definitely something to see," Muirhead said.


      Huener, the DNR officer, said it might be a sad ending for the
bull, but at least the antlers will be preserved for people to
enjoy. Fortunately for the Muirheads, they have a 22-foot cathedral
ceiling in their living room. They're going to need a lot of space
to display this trophy.


      "I'm from Montana, and I've never seen anything that big,"
Josie said of the bull's rack. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime
experience."
      

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Ryan Muirhead and a couple of deer hunting buddies came across a trapped bull in Decemeber and did their best to save the huge animal. They didn't know it at the time, but the elk's antlers eventually would measure among the largest ever.

Nature takes its course for trophy elk in N. Minn.

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