A Bend hunter was rescued Saturday in the Maury Mountains after his all-terrain vehicle rolled over and he was speared in the back by the antler of an elk he was packing out.

Gary Heeter, 69, was taken by a Life Flight helicopter to St. Charles Bend, according to a news release from the Crook County Sheriff’s Office. He was in fair condition Saturday night, according to a hospital official.

Heeter had been dragging the elk carcass behind his ATV back to camp. But as he drove up a steep hillside, the front of the vehicle rose up and Heeter was impaled by the elk antler as the ATV rolled backward.

One of Heeter’s hunting partners called 911 at 11:45 a.m. about the accident in the vicinity of Arrowwood Point. The remote location is off the 200 spur road, off of Forest Service Road 1670.

The hunters had put bandages on Heeter’s wound and used pressure to control bleeding, according to the news release.

A sheriff’s deputy was able to find the hunting party shortly after 1 p.m. and contacted the Life Flight helicopter flying overhead to relay the exact crash location.

In the meantime, Crook County Fire and Rescue medics were taken by the deputy to the crash scene but had to leave their ambulance a mile and a half back because the rocky spur road was so narrow, the news release said. They began treating Heeter, who was carried on a back board about a half-mile to the helicopter.

Crook County Search and Rescue also responded to the accident.