DULUTH (AP) &045; A conservation officer rescued a 13-point buck from Duluth’s icy harbor Tuesday.

The 300-pound whitetail had plunged into the harbor near the Cargill grain elevators. Unstable ice and dock walls left the buck with no escape.

&uot;By the time I got down there, he was already exhausted,&uot; Minnesota Conservation Officer Dale Ebel said. Ebel patrols the woods and waters around Duluth.

&uot;I lassoed an antler and hung on to him until I got some help,&uot; Ebel said.

A veterinarian from the Lake Superior Zoo sedated the buck while it was in the water.

Ebel and U.S. Coast Guard crews pulled the deer onto shore and drove him to the Spirit Mountain area, where he was laid down in a wooded area. Ebel says he thinks the deer will be fine &045; he watched the buck run away.

When Ebel was asked why the buck was saved in a city already overrun with excess deer, he said the buck deserved another chance: &uot;We didn’t want to see this big guy go down like that. He’s too impressive of an animal.&uot;