Astonishing video captures the moment a cop frees two deer tangled up by antlers by SHOOTING them apart

An astonishing video captures the moment a police officer used his handgun to blast apart the antlers of two bucks who had become dangerously tangled during a duel.



The bucks seen kicking and twisting in an Illinois field last week became locked together and feared to be facing a long and miserable death if not pulled apart.



'He's worn out, he's going to give you a shot,' an officer is heard telling another as they circled the worn-out match looking for the best angle to safely fire at the antlers without killing either animal.

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Rough match: Two bucks are seen locked together by their antlers in a field in Illinois last week

Exhausting: After constant kicking and bucking to free themselves, one of the two bucks eventually tires out and falls to the ground as the second continues to work to free itself

An Illinois Conservation Police Officer, a State Trooper and a Will County Forest Preserve Officer all responded to the scene.



'Take it if you can!' the officer tells the shooter before he carefully fires his first shot at both deer who surprisingly only slightly jump to the burst.

It takes the officer four shots before the antler finally breaks, separating the deer with a gruff snort from the strongest before quickly dashing away.



The second, seen throughout the rescue appearing far more exhausted from their botched duel, wobbles in his own run while easily seen with a gimp.

Fire: One of the four responding officers takes aim at one of the deer's antlers and fires from his handgun hoping to break them apart

Freed: After the forth shot the antler successfully breaks and the pair are freed, both seen immediately running with the second lagging from possible injuries or fatigue

VIDEO Sharp shooter frees two tangled bucks...

The officers discuss potentially having to put the animal down due to possible injuries during the scuffle though no update on its condition was provided.

'Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources law enforcement officers are periodically alerted to these types of instances. While not common, it happens,' the department said in an email to MailOnline.



'Fights among male deer are common and occasionally their antlers become entangled. Sometimes the deer are able to free themselves…sometimes not, and in those instances we have found deer which become locked together and perish before someone comes along to find and possibly free them.'

Reaction to the video posted by the department's Facebook page is varied with some crying animal abuse and others praising the sharp shooting that potentially spared both animals' their lives.

'As a proud supporter of PETA, I am appalled at this video. The officer should have comforted the deer prior to shooting at them,' wrote Mark Dorencz on the department's Facebook page.



'Yea if they would have not done that the one would have eventually broke the others neck or killed it via over exertion and the other one [not] able to get free would have died of starvation,' commented Josh Swedberg as well.

Not all saved: This second video taken in late January shows the fate of one deer who wasn't found and rescued in time but still remained locked to another who continued to fight for its release

Sawed free: The responding police officer in this situation was able to free the surviving deer by sawing one of the antlers, a process that took about 20 minutes

The department later posted another video taken in late January of a buck trying to free its antlers from the corpse of a second buck in Ogle County.



As that video shows, Conservation Police Officer Steven Beltran was dispatched to break up that second tangled pair but the scene appeared far more grisly than he perhaps expected.



The fighting buck who stood chest high to the officer is seen dragging the corpse in a ring around a field unable to free itself.



In that situation the officer used a saw to cut off one of the deer's antlers in a process that took about 20 minutes to complete.



Once it was done the deer bounded quickly away and out of eyesight.



Bucks' antlers are bone but ones they shed in the spring when hormone changes cause the antlers to shed.

