After the identification, the team faced the delicate task of preserving the ancient mammoth tusk for further examination. The fossil was enveloped in layers of plaster-soaked bur

A routine deer hunting trip in West Texas took an unexpected turn when a hunter unearthed what experts have confirmed to be a mammoth tusk.

I was skeptical when a deer hunter showed me a picture of what he thought was a fossil,” O2 Ranch manager Will Juett said. “I figured it was likely just an old stump, but imagined how great it would be if he was right.