Beyond The Call

After Alisha New hit a buck, she probably thought a destroyed SUV was the end of it. But later that day, Sgt. Sid Harrison, of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Department, found the buck and sawed off the rack. He got with taxidermist Tim Knight to mount the rack. Sgt. Harrison presented it to Mrs. New on Dec. 15.

Most of the television media, like CNN, seem to look for every opportunity to portray law-enforcement officers in a negative light. Some viewers might actually forget these men and women actually risk their lives each day when they go to work. If the only news people got about law enforcement was from those television stations, they would never know about stories like one that played out over the last two months in Laurens County.

It began early on the morning of Nov. 5, when Sgt. Sid Harrison, of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Department, was on patrol and got a radio call. Someone had hit a deer.

“This accident was like many others in that a deer had struck the vehicle as the driver was heading to work early that morning,” Sgt. Harrison said. “I made contact with a nice young lady by the name of Alisha New.”

Sgt. Harrison said the woman lived nearby and was very knowledgeable about deer. So when she said he had hit a 12-point buck, that was not information simply dismissed and forgotten.

“I am very familiar with this highway and the dangers of deer crossing the roadway at this spot,” the officer said. “I also knew the deer Mrs. New described. My wife almost hit him the week prior at the same location. She, too, described a huge buck.

“Mrs. New indicated she had attempted to locate the deer to no avail. She had also attempted to get in touch with her husband to assist in finding the buck, but he did not answer.

“After seeing Mrs. New off to get her to her elementary teaching job, I went on about my day. A few hours later, I was in the vicinity of Mrs. New’s crash site, and thought I would make an attempt to locate the deer. He had caused a great deal of damage to the sport utility vehicle, and I felt he was injured and maybe did not go too far.

“I eventually located the deer, and sure enough it was a 12-point just as Mrs. New said. He had run a short distance and fell  less than 100 yards from where he was struck.”

Sgt. Harrison could have simply left the buck, or he could do something with the rack. What he choose to do speaks volumes.

“I realized Mrs. New had a bad morning, but now I could do something for her to make it better. I took an early lunch, grabbed a hand saw from my truck, and I secured the near perfect rack. During the next few weeks, I worked on the rack. One day I was driving by Knight’s Wildlife Studio, and Tim was outside the shop boiling up deer heads for skull mounts.”

Tim is a regular GON writer, Hunt Advisor and longtime friend.

“I pulled in, and Tim and I discussed what we could do to make this a real nice mount. Being the professional he is, I knew Tim would take care of the rack way better than anything I could do, so I left it with him and his son Josh to do a great job for Mrs. New.  And did they ever!”

On Dec. 15, Sgt. Harrison surprised Mrs. New at her school in front of her class, presenting her with the rack mounted on a nice plaque.