HARRINGTON — A Maine lobsterman hauled in an unusual catch five miles off the coast — a live deer.

Ren Dorr says he was setting traps when he saw a young deer Monday morning. He said the deer had given up swimming and was being carried farther offshore.

He and his crew hauled the 100-pound buck aboard.

Having a wild animal in a confined space could be trouble. But Dorr told the Bangor Daily News that the deer was so tuckered out that he “laid right down like a dog.”

A deer bobs in the ocean five miles offshore from Harrington on Monday before being rescued. Jared Thaxter via Associated Press

He said it took a half-hour to return to Harrington, where the deer was set free.

Dorr said that he has seen deer swimming before but this time was different.

He says that if he and his crew hadn’t intervened, the deer would have been “a goner.”