The Headless Deer

Trick or Treat
This picture tells the story…more here:

Elizabeth Laatsch had to reassure the operator her call was no Halloween prank.

A deer came through her backyard Friday with a pumpkin stuck on its head.

At least, it looked like a pumpkin to the South Middleton Township woman.

“It sounds very far-fetched,” says Laatsch, who moved into the Stonehedge Drive house with husband, Jerry, about a month ago. Her husband was on the back porch about 11:15 a.m. when something walked through the yard.

“He did not know what it was at first,” Laatsch says. “He called out to me.”

She looked outside and saw the deer moving slowly, unable to see where it was going.

The animal disappeared into a wooded area and gully. Forty-five minutes later, the deer meandered back and Laatsch took its picture.

Query: If you saw this deer from your stand, and only had a doe tag left, would you shoot?

The Pennsylvania Game Commission asks anyone who has seen a deer with a pumpkin head to call 1-814-643-1831.

UPDATE: On October 27, 2005, The Sentinel wrote a follow up story and cited to PA: Hunt. Fish. Shoot. on the front page:

A deer with a pumpkin-like globe on its head apparently has gone missing.

No new sightings since Friday.

On the ‘Net, however, there’s lots of curiosity.

Query: How could anyone legally shoot this deer without knowing if it were antlered, antlerless, or protected?

5 Comments on “The Headless Deer

  1. If I did not have a doe tag, but just antlered tag, I would not shoot because it does not have three pumpkins to a side.

  2. Nice! A deer-o-lantern! If it were a buck I would have to say it would be a non-legal buck if he could fit his head inside a pumpkin 🙁

  3. No need to worry. Deer hasn’t been seen in well over a week now. I’m afraid it has gone to benefit other wildlife now.

  4. That deer can get that pumpkin off its head, it probably did so already

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