Disappointing shed hunt

[Bill]

Hadn't heard of this guy going down last year. Even though I never got any pics of him after september I was hoping there was a chance I'd find his sheds.

Didn't find sheds, I found him :(

All I could find was his head and a part of the back bone. I looked but no other parts to try and figure out what happened.
I'm guessing a bow hit. He was pretty clean and something had started chewing his antlers.

I've been dreaming all winter that maybe he would return this summer.

Not going to happen.

A friend scored him at 151 gross. Only 2 4/8 deduction between both sides for a net of 148 4/8. Pretty darn symmetrical.

 

[bwoods11]

Geez that stinks! Hopefully he will have some stud offspring?

 

[kl9]

Sucks you found him dead, but at least you found him as intact as you did.

 

[wklman]

It's always bittersweet finding a head like that. hoping to know he's alive but then finding out he's not. At least you know for sure and not wondering throughout the year where he's at.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

The timing on that would also line up with blue tongue or EHD (EHD "tends" to hit earlier, as there is only 7-9 days from bite to death, where BT can drag on for a month or more before they die). I've come to believe that both BT & EHD claim a heck of a lot more deer than we tend to think. In the central band of the Midwest states (IA, IL, IN, OH and so on), I believe it hits pretty much every year. The real question is if it will be a really bad outbreak or just take a handful (which I've come to believe is "normal"). I find a few deer that appear to have died from one of the two on grounds I manage in those states pretty much every year.

P.S. regardless....that always stinks.

 

[tooln]

That's too bad for both you guys but great finds.

 

[bat man]

Why are you blaming an arrow when nothing suggests it to be so?

 

[j-bird]

That sucks. I hate seeing any deer dead that wasn't taken by a hunter - I just see it as a lost opportunity to make some hunters day. I have been seeing a few more dead one in the ditch here in my area for some reason. Hopefully those genes get passed along and in time you guys will get another chance.

 

[Bill]

Thanks guys.

Nofo,
I feel your pain.

Hadn't thought of EHD or blue tongue.

Brooks,
I just figured it for a Sept death based on his disappearance and the fact that decay was so far along. He seemed otherwise healthy and I concluded bow. Steve's got me rethinking that now. Deer in our area are always being found in August and Sept from one of those diseases. Even if it isn't a drought year.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Deer in our area are always being found in August and Sept from one of those diseases. Even if it isn't a drought year.

Same with the grounds I either manage or am very familiar with in N MO, IA & IL. I find dead bucks on those grounds pretty much every year. The only real question is if it will be just a few or if it will be one of those far rarer mass die offs. It's hard to misdiagnose the mass die offs, but I believe a lot of bucks in that latitude belt that are credited with "fall dispersal" are rotting in the woods somewhere.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Bummer but at least you know his status. 2 of the biggest bucks I had on cam just disappeared.

 

[Native Hunter]

Wow, sorry to see a dandy like that die that way.