craigdailypress.com

It's not as if he knew it was going to happen.

Or did he?

When registering for a 2008 deer tag, Craig resident Steve Cattoor had three options: Purchase a buck tag (M), a doe tag (F) or an either sex tag (E).

Instead of limiting himself to either a male or a female - you never know which will cross your path when hunting - Cattoor went for the latter.

Little did he know it was the perfect choice.

Lying in bed last week at his home north of town, Cattoor noticed headlights in his driveway.

He peered out his window to see a vehicle backing away and speeding off.

"It was about 10 at night," Cattoor said. "I grabbed my field glasses (binoculars) and looked down at the road, and it looked like they hit a deer. I could see something laying in the road, and I went down to see what it was."

At first glance, Cattoor noticed what appeared to be a nice two-point buck lying in the middle of the road.

Common enough in "the elk hunting capital of the world."

So Cattoor grabbed his rifle - to put it out of its misery if it wasn't dead - and walked down to the still warm mammal.

"When I got down there, the guys driving were all right," Cattoor said. "They had a dented fender and a broken light, but they were OK."

Moffat County provides road kill permits to those who want to keep the road kill.

The men responsible for hitting the deer didn't want it, so Cattoor called up the Moffat County Sheriff's department, to lay his claim.

"One of the sheriffs came by to check and make sure it wasn't shot in town, and I asked him for a kill permit," Cattoor said. "It was like 10:30, quarter to 11 at night."

Cattoor filled out the paperwork, was issued the kill permit and dragged the deer home with his tractor.

All seemed normal for the 70-year-old.

That is, until the next day, when he went to dress out his claim.

He flipped the deer over, preparing to make the first cut - from the groin to the throat - and he noticed something missing.

The deer with antlers had no male genitalia.

"There were no male organs on the animal," Cattoor said, laughing.

The man who had decided on purchasing a unisex tag, had hauled in a unisex deer.

The feat seems surprising enough but not to Cattoor - he's seen it before.

"In 1965, a buddy of mine got one," Cattoor said. "We're talking many years ago."

Male, female, or somewhere in between, Cattoor could care less.

"It all tastes the same," he said. "It was fat and extra heavy. I'll be eating it for a while."

John Vandelinder can be reached at 875-1793 or jvandelinder@craigdailypress.com