Maine game wardens rescued a 78-year-old Cutler man who had fallen through the ice in a bog, gotten lost, and become hypothermic while looking for moose antlers during Monday’s storm.

Pete Taylor ventured out on his ATV around 7 a.m. Monday to search for antlers in the vicinity of Cocoa Mountain Road in Cutler, Mark Latti, the spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said in a statement.

When Taylor didn’t return by noon his family members began searching for him. They located his ATV around 4 p.m., but couldn’t find him in the declining light and heavy sleet and contacted the Maine Warden Service, Latti said.

Maine game wardens, including a warden with a K-9, forest rangers, and a deputy from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Taylor around 4:30 p.m., but it wasn’t until 8 p.m. that they made voice contact with Taylor and were able to find him with the K-9 leading the way.

Taylor told game wardens he was able to get out of the bog, but the water had soaked his clothing and he became disoriented and hypothermic as the freezing weather and sleet worsened.

“He told wardens that he was going to go to sleep, and wasn’t sure if he would wake up,” Latti said. Taylor said hearing a siren on one of the warden’s vehicles kept him awake because he knew help was on the way.

Latti said rescuers warmed Taylor up with a fire and once he was warm took him to an ambulance. After being examined by paramedics, he was released to his family.

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