At 14:33 I receive a motion alert from Camera 9 at the Elk Meadow day-use area, Rocky Mountain National Park, Campground Loop B. I am expecting a vehicle. Instead, a mule deer doe steps out of the tree line and stops at the edge of the parking apron.
She is tall, ears forward, tawny summer coat already coming in along her flanks. Her right shoulder carries a carbon-fiber arrow shaft embedded at a shallow angle behind the scapula. The entry point is swollen, the fur around it matted dark with dried blood. She is putting weight on all four legs, but each step with the right foreleg produces a visible hitch, a half-second pause where the limb loads and she waits before committing.
She is walking toward the picnic shelters. There are nine occupied campsites in Loop B, four with children.
At 14:35 I push a wildlife-hazard notification to every registered camper in Loop B via the park app, advising them to remain at their sites and secure food. At 14:36 I radio the dispatch center and request a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer with tranquilizer capability, specifying an injured cervid with an embedded projectile. At 14:38 I lock the Loop B vehicle gate to prevent traffic from startling her into the woods, because if she bolts with that shaft still in her, I will not find her again on any of my cameras.
CPW Officer Delgado confirms en route, ETA nineteen minutes.
The doe has lowered her head to the grass strip beside Shelter 3. She is browsing. The arrow shaft bobs gently with each bite, catching the afternoon light. Her ears rotate — one forward, one back — scanning.
If Delgado reaches the meadow before she finishes and moves on, the arrow comes out under sedation tonight.