Looks like chronic EHD

[Tap]

Sorry for the poor photo quality...it's zoomed-in quite a bit so the hooves can be seen.
Look at the length of this deer's toes and dew claws...very long.
I saw him walking through my yard yesterday and he seemed like his walk was slightly "gingerly", like he had sore feet. By the time I had the cam corder booted-up, he was too far away.

This looks like chronic EHD (not accuse EHD which kills before the hooves can get deformed).
I found a dead deer 2 years ago that had the exact same symptoms.

 

[j-bird]

EHD wasn't even part of our vocabulary here until the past decade or two. Then IN got smacked pretty good in 2007 and again in 2012. I can't say I have ever seen the evidence like you show in your pic, but that sure looks like it. I have a low deer density and as such I don't see much evidence of EHD, even though I did find and report a deer back in 2012/13. The DNR simply chalked it up to EHD and didn't even take a look. It was pretty bad that year as I have two large perennial streams on my place and they where reduced to puddles with long stretches in between.

 

[Bill]

l read once that deer that survive EHD do have messed up feet, some even loose part of the hoof.

 

[Tap]

l read once that deer that survive EHD do have messed up feet, some even loose part of the hoof.

Yes they can. I have 1st hand experience with that. This buck had elongated toes and a year later he had no toes at all. He actually grew a decent rack for around here...good mass. He disappeared shortly after these pics...

 

[Tap]

Here he was in July of that year...

Here's the hoof of the dead doe I found a few years ago...

 

[yoderjac]

EHD has been in our general area for quite a while. The acute form seems to come on cycles of about 7 years. At that time we find dead deer. Many don't die, but get the chronic symptoms that result in the sloughing hooves. Our farm is enrolled in a data collection program with the state. Every deer we harvest is checked for sloughing hooves.

CWD has now entered our state. It is still pretty rare, but its potential sort of makes EHD seem like a minor inconvenience.

Thanks,

Jack