This story is decades old from before CWD was much of a problem.
An old client/ gentleman of mine had a handful of tame deer. His fences got old and his 12 pointer got out.This guy had an attachment to that deer as it had been his for years. He was almost in tears. No record buck, but a darn nice buck with a small plastic ear tag.
Three to four months later a guy was hunting a few miles away. He killed it and returned the rack to the old guy after he saw the small ear tag. I am not sure what was done with the meat or the tag, but it was an interesting ending. The hunter lived about 70 miles away but through the ‘rural network’, the owner was found.
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