A mercy killing

[Doc]

I shot a 5-point this afternoon that had some serious and odd wounds. I'm not sure what this guy ran into, but I don't ever want to see whatever it was. First of all, there was a large gash on each side of the nape of the neck. Each was about 3 to 4 inches long and were quite deep. Then back toward the rump, there was another similar gash.....real deep. Worst of all, all the hide was stripped off and some of the meat missing around the butt (a patch maybe 10" in diameter) and it almost looked like something had been feeding on this deer while it was still alive. I'm not sure if the meat is going to be any good because the wounds stink pretty bad. I've never seen anything like that before, and haven't got a clue what happened to this poor critter, but I'll say one thing ...... he never would have made it through the winter. I'm thinking about posting some pictures as soon as I figure out which ones are not too gross for the forum. The pictures of the wound at the butt are pretty nasty to look at and wasn't made any better when I was trying to figure out where the butt-hole was. The back end was so messed up that it wasn't real obvious just where the heck the "pooper" was.....lol. Things got really messed up because I was trying not to touch any of the potentially infected meat. Those pictures may not be suitable for this forum.

At any rate, I am still trying to figure out just what happened to this guy. I've kind of ruled out a collision with a car because of the neck wounds plus I can't picture how a car would cause the kinds of wounds that he had. Plus he was about 1-1/2 miles from any road. It's just weird! I felt good about putting this guy out of his misery.

Doc

[First-light]

Doc,

My neighbor's group shot a buck a few days ago. Now, the wounds don't seem as extensive as the one you came upon but this small 6pt had gashes all around the neck area.  They were deep and some had started to heel over. They told me it looked like a big buck took some frustration out on it????

[Gthphtm]

Seen any bear or heard of any by you lately?.

[Bleitten04]

Doc

You really made a good decision though I taking it out of its misery.  I hope that you can try and find some good meat on it!!!!

[ANTLERS]

The neck and rump,The two places coyotes will take down a mature deer.I would say he was attacked by coyotes.The pack chased him,one or two grabbed on to his hind quarters another bit into his neck,But he got away.

[the blur]

Definately a yotee

[LI-BROWNING]

sounds like coyotes to me.....found a doe last weekend that coyotes were eating..

[fasteddie]

My vote is Yotes . Those damned things will start eating their prey when it is still alive .

[Doc]

Seen any bear or heard of any by you lately?.

Yes, we just recently have had resident bears in the area, and that was my first thought. But after thinking about it, I doubt that a bear could actually catch a healthy buck.

[Doc]

Doc,

My neighbor's group shot a buck a few days ago. Now, the wounds don't seem as extensive as the one you came upon but this small 6pt had gashes all around the neck area.  They were deep and some had started to heel over. They told me it looked like a big buck took some frustration out on it? ???

Those wounds around the neck and the one on the rear haunch could be antler inflicted, but that area at the back where all the hide was torn right off with some of the meat missing doesn't sound like a result of a fight. Plus the wounds don't really look like puncture wounds. They are more like they were ripped by something sharp.

[Doc]

I'm thinking coyotes too or perhaps dogs. Over the past bunch of years we have had problems with dogs that people just let run free.

Doc

[HectorBuckBuster]

Or a really big cat is in the area. 

[Lawdwaz]

Or a really big cat is in the area. 

Here we go................................

[nyslowhand]

Cam MIB, they'll know. lol

[Doc]

These pictures are a bit graphic, and I left out the one that showed all the damage around the butt-hole. That one was really gross.

The first pic is a wound on the left side of the neck. The 2nd is a similar wound on the right side of the neck. The 3rd is a wound on the rear flank. They are all deep and all around 3 or 4 inches long or maybe a bit longer.

Doc

[WNYBuckHunter]

You sure those arent just really bad shots? The one on the neck could be where someone nicked him and the one on the rear could be where someone hit him in the rump at an angle while he was running. If it were yotes, you would see some puncture wounds from the teeth.

[the blur]

Why are those graphic ?

as opposed to deer guts being removed from a carcass....

The most graphic deer picture I saw was on another forum, where they use 00 buck shot on deer, and the deer bleeds out from multiple holes.  That one I didn't like for some reason.

[Doc]

You sure those arent just really bad shots? The one on the neck could be where someone nicked him and the one on the rear could be where someone hit him in the rump at an angle while he was running. If it were yotes, you would see some puncture wounds from the teeth.

I have never seen a shot that blew a 10" diameter chunk of skin and meat off the back side of a deer.....lol.  Also, each of the other wounds were long (3 to 4 inches long) and narrow ..... nothing like a slug hole. Also I ruled out archery wounds because of the number of them. Also, the age of these wounds look older than anything made since gun season began.

Actually, I have seen wounds of this kind before back when we used to have sheep and dogs got into them. These are tearing wounds not punctures which is consistant with canine attacks.

Doc

[Doc]

Why are those graphic ?

as opposed to deer guts being removed from a carcass....

The most graphic deer picture I saw was on another forum, where they use 00 buck shot on deer, and the deer bleeds out from multiple holes.  That one I didn't like for some reason.

The ones that I posted weren't particularly bad. The one that I decided not to post (the butt-shot) was particularly gross. I determined it wasn't appropriate for this forum.

Doc

[WNYBuckHunter]

You sure those arent just really bad shots? The one on the neck could be where someone nicked him and the one on the rear could be where someone hit him in the rump at an angle while he was running. If it were yotes, you would see some puncture wounds from the teeth.

I have never seen a shot that blew a 10" diameter chunk of skin and meat off the back side of a deer.....lol.  Also, each of the other wounds were long (3 to 4 inches long) and narrow ..... nothing like a slug hole. Also I ruled out archery wounds because of the number of them. Also, the age of these wounds look older than anything made since gun season began.

Actually, I have seen wounds of this kind before back when we used to have sheep and dogs got into them. These are tearing wounds not punctures which is consistant with canine attacks.

Doc

I dont think you understand what I meant. If you hit that dear's rear end at a good angle, it could do that pretty easilly. From the picture it looks like an enterence hole at an angle, and then the slug tore a hole on exit, which really wouldnt have been that far from the enterance. The other straight mark wouldnt be from a slug that entered the body of the deer, thats not what I said, but if the slug nicked it or should I say grazed it, it could do that. I dunno, just what it looked like from the pics to me.

[nyantler]

I agree WNY .. looks like someone was shooting at that deer running away from them..

[outdoorstom]

Personally, I think it was coyotes.

[HectorBuckBuster]

The neck ones look like slug burns from shooting at the deer from behind, I am guessing that big chunk was a slug wound.

[Doc]

Has anyone ever seen a slug wound that was about 8 to 10 inches in diameter that obliterated the poop-chute and all that area around it? 

The confusion is because, as I explained, I did not include the picture of that wound because I decided it would be in poor taste. It's just a bloody mass of ripped up meat.  However, I can assure you that it was no slug wound or broadhead wound or an antler wound. To be blunt, the ass end was eaten out of this deer while it was alive. The whole area under the tail and completely across the whole white area on the rear was missing for about an inch or better deep. I will agree that the other wounds could have been made in several different ways, but that big rump wound has only one explanation, Unless somebody is shooting explosive ammo  ;D . Perhaps this animal was the world's most unlucky deer and was the victim of two or more different kinds of wounds, but I don't think so. Most likely what ever happened to that big area on his back end is related to the two wounds on the neck and the one in the side of the ham.

By the way, I lost a heck of a lot of meat on those roasts. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

I agree, hard to tell just from the photos you posted. Maybe it started as a gun shot wounded deer that coyotes went after. In any case, its good that you put it down and didnt let all of the meat go to waste or let the deer suffer.