Green Lake County, Wisconsin – A Wisconsin sheriff’s office used a drone to rescue three deer that had fallen through the thin ice on a partially frozen lake.

The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to Big Green Lake after a report of multiple deer in distress.

Sheriff’s Detective Josh Ward said, “We’ve done a lot of human rescues, looking for people, lost people, search and rescue stuff, accident scene crashes. Never done one doing a herd deer drive with a drone.”

The sheriff’s office shared video on Facebook showing the drone’s point-of-view from the rescue.

Ward said deputies worried that approaching in person would spook the doe and two fawns.

“If we came from the shoreline with a boat, they’re just going to try and get away, and you’re actually doing more harm than good because you’re pushing them further and further away from shore. We couldn’t come in from the waterside, because that’s obviously all froze over,” he explained.

Ward flew the drone from the far side, guiding the deer toward the shore instead of deeper into the lake.

One fawn was too tired to climb over rocks, but Ward used the drone to bring it close enough to be roped and saved.

The deer family was reunited on shore and released back into the wild.

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