On Derby Pond in Vermont, a 19-year-old Griffin Marquis took to a canoe to rescue a deer that had broken partially through the ice. Marquis, an avid hunter, was on his way home from work when he got a call from his grandfather sharing that a deer was in trouble on the pond.
“The deer was about 100 yards out from shore,” Marquis told CNN Newsource/WCAX/WKRC.
Young hunter canoes out to deer stranded on frozen Derby Pond, Vermont
When he arrived at the scene, Marquis jumped into a canoe and used a shovel to paddle and haul himself over the ice out to the distressed deer.
“The deer was pretty shaken up,” Marquis shared. “It didn’t have a whole lot of energy left.”
Marquis then set to work in rescuing the doe. Marquis attempted several methods of rescue from towing to pulling the deer closer with a rake. Eventually and after repeated attempts, Marquis got the deer into his canoe.
“It wasn’t really happy to be in there with me, but it made it in,” Marquis said. “So I sat for another about three minutes with it in the canoe, try to calm it down, make it feel safe.”
Once the deer had settled down, Marquis began to paddle the canoe back to shore, but the ordeal wasn’t over yet. As the canoe broke through more ice, it made a loud noise startling the deer. The deer jumped out of the canoe, flipping the paddlecraft and sending Marquis into the water.
“I went under, right over my head. Took the wind right out of me and breath out of me and it was just kind of fight mode to get out of there,” said Marquis.
Thankfully, Marquis was wearing a life jacket and made it back to shore safely.
A second rescue mission
Upon reaching shore Marquis was ready to warm up and head back out for a second attempt to save the deer. His grandfather, Doug Spates, was watching from shore and encouraged him not to go back out.
“I just said ‘Griff this isn’t worth it. You know I want to save a deer but it’s not worth something happening,’” said Spates. “But you don’t say no to Griff, because he was pretty determined that he was going to save that deer.”
Marquis wasn’t ready to give up on the doe yet. He took a quick hot shower and headed back out to save the deer. This time, Marquis grabbed the deer by the scruff of its neck with one hand, and with the other hand paddle the canoe with a rake until it was shallow enough for him to jump in the water and pull the deer to shore and safety.
CNN Newsource/WCAX/WKRC reported that, ironically, Marquis is also an avid hunter.
“I figured you know, my life revolves a lot about hunting,” explained Marquis. “I love to hunt and I know that I’m putting it [the deer] to good use. I’m feeding my family, I’m feeding my friends and I thank that deer very much for letting me take its life. I figured I could give back to the deer myself.”
“Obviously I didn’t want to sit there and watch it suffer. I figured I’d do what I could to get it out,” Marquis added. “It was a sigh of relief, watching it walk away into the woods.”
