Jim Lamb is a wildlife biologist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and he recently posted a series of photos on Facebook that document an extraordinary rescue. 

Apparently, this trophy bull somehow became stuck in a Utah bog hole, and as you’ll see in these following images, the elk wasn’t getting out without some serious help. 

Staff from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources had this to say, “Yesterday, some sportsmen came across a bull elk stuck in a bog hole in Garfield County. They called us. This falls under that ‘other duties as assigned’ category in our employee work plans. Billy Conn, his son Todd Conn, Jim Lamb and Michael Durfey worked together to safely free the bull elk, and we couldn’t be prouder.”

The images are self-explanatory, but I will point out the men were clever enough to build a log support brace that enabled the winch to pull at a more upright angle to avoid harming the bull. 

As the photos show, after the men freed the bull from the bog, the animal, which was likely disoriented, moved off into a nearby cattail swamp and then became stuck again. They had to winch it to safety a second time!

I'll also point out the men took the time to use brush and logs to fill/cover the bog hole so another big game animal, or a person, didn't suffer the same fate as the bull.

Congrats to Jim Lamb and his partners on an elk rescue for the ages.