Deer stuck on frozen Kelowna lake rescued by conservation officers

A slippery situation for a young deer in the Kelowna area ended peacefully yesterday.

Conservation officers saved a whitetail buck that was stranded on Duck Lake, just north of Kelowna, and likely would have been eaten by coyotes had they not intervened.

“We suspect that coyotes chased it on to the ice,” said Ken Owens.

Officers found the deer around 8:30 a.m. on December 12 on ice that was than two inches thin in some spots. They tranquilized the deer and brought it to shore, freeing it once it recovered.

“The fog worked to our advantage to get close to the deer,” said Owens, saying that it allowed them to shoot the deer without spooking it – which could have potentially been fatal with the thin ice.