A deer stranded on the ice at Bigfork Harbor for three days was rescued Wednesday by a warden with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Warden Chuck Bartos received a call Wednesday afternoon from Bigfork resident Tony Grant, who lives on the south side of the harbor. Grant said that the deer had been stuck on the thin ice since Sunday.

Grant said that within 10 minutes, Bartos arrived and Grant watched through binoculars as the warden crept onto the ice to retrieve the deer.

“When he went out on the ice, it was almost like the deer realized he was there to help him,” Grant said.

Bartos said he didn’t think the doe was injured.

“It was a bad spot for a deer to be in,” he said. “It looked like she fell on the ice and apparently had been there a couple of days. I couldn’t find any injury on it. It just looked like it fell down, couldn’t get up and got tired and cold.”

When asked what he was thinking walking out on the thin ice, Bartos said with a laugh: “I was thinking, ‘This is stupid.’”  

Bartos helped the deer into the brush and got her standing on all four legs on the north side of the water.  

Grant was impressed with the warden’s willingness to help the animal, telling the Inter Lake that he had “just witnessed a very good thing.”

“The ice is not that thick, he could have went in himself,” Grant said. “We have to give credit where credit is due. I just thought that was very, very nice.”

Bartos said he did receive a little help from the deer.

“It wasn’t a long ways out, so I just slowly went out there and just grabbed a hold of it,” he said. “The deer kind of kicked a lot and helped me get back.

“So, hopefully she survives,” Bartos said.

Reporter Brittany Brevik may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.