Disoriented Buck Tears Through Coweta Hot Dog Shop

Wednesday, November 16th 2016, 7:00 pm

By: Craig Day

This is a time of year when bucks are chasing does.

They kind of lose their mind sometimes during mating season; and in one case, apparently their sense of direction, too. One deer ended up inside a Coweta hot dog restaurant.

The sign on the door at the Good Dog Coney shop on Chestnut Street in Coweta gives the explanation: “Closed today due to deer.”

But let's go back to earlier in the morning when co-owner Mark Bates got a call about the broken front window.

"I heard a commotion; I thought someone was still in here," he said.

Turns out it wasn't someone, but something - a young eight-point buck, running around in the restaurant.

Bates said, "I thought, ‘Well if it's some big crazy dude in there we can handle that.’ But then when I seen the horns my heart sunk. I thought, ‘How we gonna get this cat out of my restaurant?’"

Turns out it's not easy getting out a disoriented deer.

In a confined space, Bates said the deer became more confused - tearing up the kitchen and ripping plumbing and sinks from the walls.

"He had already torn up a lot and when I went back to open the back door to give him an exit he really went berserk," Bates said.

One of Bates' friends quickly grabbed the antlers and pinned the deer to the floor until firefighters got there.

They carefully tied the deer with ropes so it wouldn't harm itself and carried it out the back door to be released.

With all the damage, the restaurant said it will likely be Monday before they reopen.

The deer did not survive.

This is a good example of deer on the move this time of year; State Farm Insurance says Oklahoma drivers have a 1-in-213 chance of hitting a deer.