downed buck

[jims]

Not really a hunting story as such. But deer hunters here may have an idea. I went to my farm yesterday and as I pulled off the lane towards one of my buildings I saw a buck deer laying about 10 feet from one corner of it. He was alive but could not get up. The building is about 1/4 mile off the road. No current deer season then except bow. I thought he might have been hit by a car.
I have already taken a buck so I could not even dispatch him. I have some Amish working for me and they were there and I was going to see if one of them wanted to tag him. They had been in that exact location 30 minutes before and he was not there. The buck was a younger 8 point of so.
Anyways about 10 minutes later I had to start a tractor nearby. That must have been enough to pump adrenalin in. He struggled up and went down hill wobbly for 250 feet. I did not pursue him as I did not want him to over exert but as thin as he was I would question whether he survives. The area he lay on was torn up in his struggles to get up. No blood of any type on the ground and none seen on the side of the deer I could see. Unsure if stressed by the rut, hit by a vehicle, earlier hunting wound or disease. Really no idea. Thougts?

 

[retrieverman]

My guess is that he was hit by a vehicle, and given the condition you describe, he’s not going to make it. If it had been me, I would’ve put him out of his misery no matter what.
Leaving an animal to suffer and die slowly or get eaten alive by coyotes is never the right decision in my opinion.

 

[jims]

I had seriously considered that but felt I just had a bit of time as I did not think he was capable of getting up. I did not have anything in that building to do the job. Another building some distance away did but had not gotten there yet.
The only reason I did not think it was a vehicle strike was how thin he was. Then I considered disease but have not heard of any in western Ohio where I was at.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Thats a tough call. Hate to see an animal(or person) suffering. Whatever happened to him i hope someone put him down. Maybe you or those amish boys could go look for him

 

[FredB]

If he looked sick, I'd say call the game warden. They'd want to know about that to prevent spread.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I've had a couple of injured and sick deer on my property here in Maryland in the past. I called the DNR and they told me to dispatch the deer my self.

 

[Decay]

With Chronic Wasting disease prevalent in so many places now, I'd suggest you call the local wildlife biologist or conservation warden asap. They want to know about this. Don't shoot it unless you have a tag. That just complicates your life. And don't shoot it in the head or neck. They need that for biopsy. Let them do their job, that's what you're paying them for. You can reach a warden 24/7/365 through your local sheriff office dispatch if you don't have the number available (not 911 though).

 

[rporter]

i called a warden once about a deer in that condition and he said if i shoot it i had to tag it. so if gun season is not in .............
never again would i call. i would do the old S S S.

 

[MrTom]

With Chronic Wasting disease prevalent in so many places now, I'd suggest you call the local wildlife biologist or conservation warden asap. They want to know about this. Don't shoot it unless you have a tag. That just complicates your life. And don't shoot it in the head or neck. They need that for biopsy. Let them do their job, that's what you're paying them for. You can reach a warden 24/7/365 through your local sheriff office dispatch if you don't have the number available (not 911 though).

CWD was the first thing that came to my mind after you described things.

 

[rporter]

CWD
a year before cwd was discovered and admitted to in Arkansas i seen 2 elk that almost certainly had it. they were extremely emaciated and stumbled around with no purpose. one was so bad it was about like throwing a blanket over a skeleton, it was that thin. i was sure it would lay down and not get up at any moment. it did not acknowledge people around it and neither did the other one.

the rangers had all kinds of excuses for them. as it turned out that was literally ground zero for cwd.

 

[snapbang]

As a kid in the country they taught me to never go near an animal that was acting other than normal and to indeed dispatch it to prevent someone else from having a problem.

 

[minelabbob]

CWD BAD NEWS!!!! for deer

 

[Makinsmoke]

My son was walking back to the house after hunting the morning. He spotted a buck lying in the briar stairing at him. When it went to stand he shot it . When he got it home and hung up, I commented how skinny it was. When we skinned it out, it had a giant puss sack from the pelvis to the start of ribs ( gag ) and the hind leg was all bruised. We called the game commission to get a replacement tag. They looked it over and said most definitely hit by a car. The nearest road was at least 3/4 - a mile away. My guess after what was described in this post , he was wacked by a car.

 

[jims]

I am sure I found him late last week. Hide and head left. Still unsure what the problem was. When the snow melts I will check the area as best I can for a possible bullet etc. He made it to the river about 900 feet from where I saw him. I am sure if he entered the river then he would never have been able to cross it.

 

[Swamp]

Could be EHD.

https://cwhl.vet.cornell.edu/disease/epizootic-hemorrhagic-disease

 

[Swamp]

Sorry I just saw the date on the original post.

 

[toytruck]

I know this is past months old, but it brought back a memory from years past.
I had just begun a hunt on private property still walking in when I saw a 4 point buck walking my way, early afternoon. CF rifle season was open. He was staggering and didn't look healthy. I had a buck tag so I finished him off. When I got to him it was obvious he had been shot in the right shoulder, low and had started to decay. I was going to drag him off into the brush, but the land owner was watching so I gutted him, used my tag and took him home. If I had suspected disease, no way would I have kept him!
I was able to save the tenderloins, backstraps and hams the rest was too far gone.