The Buck Stops Here: Teen Shoots Deer After It Breaks Into House, Topples Christmas Tree in Pursuit of Doe

A Maryland boy has his first deer kill after an eight-point buck busted into his house and knocked over the family Christmas tree, apparently in pursuit of a doe.As reported by the Frederick News-Post, 'twas three weeks before Christmas when high school senior Ryan Manchester was in the kitchen of his Dearbought, Md., home - when suddenly at the front door there arose such a clatter, he ran to the living room to see what was the matter."It sounded like someone was trying to break the door down with a sledgehammer," he told the newspaper.The commotion turned out to be the deer, which destroyed the door frame to gain entry before Manchester, expecting an intruder, peeked into the living room and saw what he was dealing with.There the buck stood, between a window and the highly decorated Christmas tree it likely wanted to couple with: Manchester's family thinks the deer tracked the intoxicating aroma of doe urine on the tree, following the same route the tree had taken into the house.First Manchester took video of the deer, then locked the family dog in the bathroom and headed upstairs to call 911 to report a deer in his living room. The response, he said, was less than urgent."I don't think they knew how much damage it was doing," he told the News-Post. "So I asked them if I should shoot it. They didn't tell me to shoot it. But they didn't tell me not to shoot it. So I was like, 'I'm probably gonna shoot it.' "The deer had already toppled the tree and smashed a few dozen ornaments. Manchester decided it was time to call his dad, who was at work, to ask how to get into the gun cabinet.The animal control department called and said an officer was 15 minutes away, so Manchester picked out his dad's 9mm handgun and headed downstairs, where the buck was plundering the kitchen in a frenzy.  Continue reading...