Colorado man hospitalized after being gored by elk on golf course

A Colorado man escaped a weekend elk attack with a lacerated kidney and a newfound respect for excessive social distancing.

Zak Bornhoft, 41, of Aurora and his three friends spent Saturday evening at Evergreen Golf Course, basking in the view of Evergreen Lake and the more than 100 elk with whom they were sharing the 18-hole course, CNN reported.

Bornhoft told The Denver Post that he never “felt threatened” by the elk and gave them at least a 20-foot berth until he finished the 16th hole.

In a Facebook post provided to the Post, Bornhoft detailed his harrowing experience.

“We took it slow to get out of the way, however this bull elk was eyeing us down,” Bornhoft wrote, noting the elk surrounded the golfers as they attempted to tee off on the 17th hole.

Although the foursome attempted to “slowly” extricate themselves, Bornhoft wrote that the bull charged their golf cart – missing the vehicle’s front end on its first try – and connected with the side of the cart on his second attempt.

Bornhoft said the bull’s “antlers went directly into my side of the golf cart, and one antler just happened to gore me.”

Although he is expected to make a full recovery, the bull lacerated his left kidney, the Post reported.

“It was unbelievable,” Bornhoft told CNN via telephone from his hospital room. “(The elk) was just freaked out, and there was nothing we could do.”

Specifically, the elk’s antler punctured Bornhoft in the back side of his right hip, plunging deeply enough to slice his left kidney into two pieces, the network reported.

Jason Clay, a public information officer with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told KCNC that elk can be more territorial and aggressive during the fall because it is mating season, also known as a rut.

“During the rut, the bulls collect their harems and very aggressively will defend them, so it could definitely see a golf cart or people nearby as a challenger,” Clay told the TV station.