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A buck's luck A buck with an arrow sticking out of its neck rests in Ashland in early December. Courtesy photo Sunday Jan 1, 2017 at 4:48 PM Jan 1, 2017 at 4:48 PM By Julie Akins For the Tidings It may have been a few days late for Christmas, but Ashland resident was still relieved to get the gift of relief after spotting a deer she'd thought likely suffered and died from an arrow in his neck resting comfortably weeks later in her yard. “We live on Oak street and the house faces the Greenway," explains Ellen Waldman, who writes the Aging Happens column for the Tidings. "We have lots of deer and they come back year after year. We recognize them.”  Waldman says her experience with backyard deer which became harrowing story Dec. 4. “I see a buck and I realize he has an arrow in his neck," she recalls. "I’m watching this deer who is laying there. He gets up and lays back down.”  There was another sighting the day before on Dec. 3, according to Fish and Wildlife’s Mark Vargas. “We got several calls from people in the area worried about this critter.”  Waldman called police, who called the Oregon State Police and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to handle the buck with a giant arrow through his neck. “The trooper came out but couldn’t find the buck," Waldman said. "It was getting dark. It was horrible because the deer was laying out there suffering. The whole night I was thinking about this poor deer.”  Waldman says a week or two went by and she tried not the think about this deer. “Then (Dec. 29) I’m walking up to my house and here’s a deer sitting in my yard and I notice a tag on his ear. I’ve never seen a deer with a tag on his ear.”  "We were waiting for an opportunity where we could find him," said Vargas of what had happened between Waldman's sightings of a deer he estimates to be about 3 years old. "We had a couple staff members go out, they darted him, removed the arrow and gave him some antibiotics. We tag the ears in cases where we give animals medicines like antibiotics. We wanted to make sure hunters know the animal has chemicals in its system. It also helps us to know if the animal survives and how it's doing.” Walkman says she quickly realized this was "her deer," the one who was shot. He has the marks on his neck. His antlers are gone but she knows it’s him. “It’s just amazing. We recognize him.”  Waldman is beyond grateful to Oregon State Troopers and Fish and Wildlife. “I’ve never seen this. I was actually pretty stunned. It was raining the night he was out there. I felt so sad, I thought he had suffered and died. But he didn’t!”  "The scabs are healing up and hopefully he lives,” Vargas says. “He could live 8 to 10 years."  “I’ve lived in this house for 18 years and we have a lot of deer. The moms come with their babies, we can have two or three bucks here at a time. They’ve never caused us any problems with our dogs,” says Waldman, excited to have the buck back and intact.  But she knows not everyone feels about deer the way she does. The species is said to be over-populated in Ashland, even suggestions deer be hunted to thin the herds, but as of now shooting an arrow within the city limits is illegal, regardless of how you may feel about deer. “I asked the police about this," Waldman said. "It’s completely illegal to shoot an arrow anywhere in city limits. This is clearly city limits and someone was out of line and shot this deer.”  It is illegal to discharge any deadly weapon within the city limits, underscoring the fact that not all arrows or bullets go as directed. A person could be shot and killed as well as deer, say police.  "Its not legal to hunt in the city limits at all," Vargas noted, adding that, "He may have been shot in the Ashland watershed and come down.” But if it turns out the shooting was not legal, they will pursue it, says Vargas. “If OSP finds out who it is they'll do some questioning."  “They told me they might be able to find this person because they can track through arrows," says Waldman. "The tip is neon green. They thought they might be able to track it with the arrow that was removed.”  Waldman says she knows deer can be problematic for some, but this type of arrow shooting and leaving the animal to suffer, she says, is not right. “It’s not an easy answer. It’s not one way or the other. They’ve caused some problems for some people.” But Waldman goes on to say if the the deer was shot in the city, it’s not responsible. “I don’t think it warrants shooting an arrow in the city limits.”  The policy of the city of Ashland regarding deer is one of providing cautionary advice to not to approach deer or feed them. “These are wild creatures. Their behaviors are unpredictable,” says the city’s website.  It goes on to say there’s not much they can do, but suggest deer fencing and let it be known they could issue a citation if people are caught feeding wildlife. “Unfortunately, the City is severely constrained in its ability to address the deer problem," the site says. "In Oregon, the management of deer populations is the exclusive purview of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.”  Ellen Waldman understands the delicacy of living close to wildlife, but this latest example, she says, has renewed her faith in the ability of humans to act responsibly, even in the face of one person who did not. “It’s unthinkable. But he was shot, suffered and then recovered, and is back in our yard again.”  Vargas says Fish and Wildlife rescues roughly a dozen urban deer per year that are injured, mostly by garden mishaps and occasionally arrow wounds. "This happens two to three times per year. We get one or two deer shot with an arrow. Two or three with a tomato cage around its head and several with stuff wrapped around its head like a hammock. We also get a few calls for deer stuck in fences.” Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/@julieakins.