EVERGREEN, Colo. (KDVR) — A man attempting to see elk up close on a Colorado golf course nearly paid the price with his life.
Zak Bornhoft was golfing at a course in Evergreen with three friends Saturday when a bull elk charged their golf cart, stabbing him in the stomach.
The antler traveled through his body and into his left kidney, slicing it in two.
“The doctor told me three inches either way, we wouldn’t be sitting here. He said it would have been better to have been stabbed with a knife because of the dirt on the elk antlers,” said Bornhoft’s wife, Megan.
The golf course is full of elk.
“They’re always out here. You just have to play around them,” said one golfer.
But many say they’ve seen too many close calls on the course.
Andi Poland, a wildlife photographer, has captured one close call after another.
“I think the elk are very predictable at that course. In my opinion, I think they should shut down those holes they’re at regularly,” she said.
Denver Parks and Recreation isn’t considering that right now, but they are urging caution, hoping what happened to Zak Bornhoft is an isolated incident.
The city says no one in recent history has been gored by an elk on the course. A Denver Parks and Recreation spokesperson also said starters and course rangers notify people to avoid holes with lots of animals on them.