While on a dive in Buffalo Lake, Gary Thompson discovered an antler so massive it must’ve belonged to a beast of an elk. Weighing in at 30 pounds, this 5 foot long antler is estimated that there’s a 70 percent chance it fell in the lake between 1440 and 1532. The antler was so big that he thought it was a root at first.
“I came across it, and it looked like a big root to start with,” said Thompson.
Gary new the antler had to be old the second he realized what it was – elks haven’t been in that area of northern Minnesota in over 100 years.
Minnesota lakes are no stranger to very old elk antlers. In 2007 a diver discovered a set of antlers in Lake Carlos that were estimated to be between 2,000 to 12,000 years old. The antlers most likely ended up at the bottom of the lake because of elk falling through the ice.
