CROSSLAKE, Minn. (AP) -- On Nov. 6, 2005, in woods near Crosslake a deer was shot by members of two different hunting parties. A hunter in one party wounded the deer and a hunter in another party finished it off.
Whose deer was it?
That situation has led to many ugly confrontations between hunters. But on that day near Crosslake it ended happily thanks to the conduct of the hunters involved and especially the woman who was named Ethical Deer Hunter of the Year by the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association.
Emily Gutenkauf didn't intend to shoot the buck that hobbled near her stand that morning. She could see the deer's front leg was wounded and that it wouldn't survive, yet she hesitated to finish it off.
"I was worried about ruining the meat," said Gutenkauf, 24, whose family of four eats every pound of venison she and her husband can harvest each year. "I didn't want them to be mad at me if I blew up the front shoulder. But all I could think of was, 'How long will this deer go?' I felt so bad for it. I love animals so much."
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Emily shot the deer and then waited as the hunter who wounded it approached her stand. She said she could tell he was upset at not having made a killing shot. She told him she had finished it off and pointed in the direction where it lay. The hunter called his partner over two-way radio and soon the pair was discussing what to do with the deer.
"They came over and said I could have the deer," Emily said. "But I told them, 'It's not mine, you guys can have it.' They went and got it and left."
Emily told her husband, Gary, what had happened. The next week Gary went about finding out who owned the land adjacent to where he and Emily hunt. He discovered the two hunters on the land that day were Lee Herman and Pat Rivers.
Gary called Rivers, who told him that he and Herman were so caught up in the excitement of getting a deer -- it was Herman's first buck -- that they forgot to ask the name of the hunter who had helped them recover it.
In a nomination letter to the MDHA, Rivers wrote, "Emily's shot put down a deer that may have been difficult to recover. Without her well-placed shot, Lee and I may never have recovered that deer."
Herman wrote: "Emily not only gave up a claim to a deer that many hunters would have argued for, but she ensured that the animal died quickly. For these reasons I believe that she should be considered for the ethical hunter award."
Emily said she never expected to win the award.
"I knew Gary was proud of me and that's all that really mattered," she said. "He followed through and found the people. Pat was so happy that Gary found him."
